Dark Wings, Dark Words

Dark Wings, Dark Words

"Dark Wings, Dark Words" is the second episode of the third season of Game of Thrones. It is the twenty-second episode of the series overall.

Synopsis

Sansa says too much; Shae asks Tyrion for a favor; Jaime finds a way to pass the time; Arya encounters the Brotherhood Without Banners.

Plot

Summary

Beyond the Wall

Jon Snow is marching with the Free Folk army of King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder. Mance explains that his army is a diverse group, formed of about ninety different groups or clans of wildlings, who speak seven different languages, and have numerous internal rivalries. However, he managed to unite them all by telling them the truth: that they will all die if they remain north of the Wall. Mance and his men then meet up with one of his advanced scouts, a man named Orell who is staring into the sky at an eagle. Mance says that he is a "warg", and Ygritte is surprised that Jon doesn't know what that is. Mance explains that a warg is a person who is capable of magically entering the mind of an animal with their own mind, seeing what it sees and even controlling its actions. Orell controls his eagle to scout for miles ahead of their army. Mance asks him what he sees, and Orell says he saw the Fist of the First Men - and many dead "crows".

Meanwhile, Lord Commander Jeor Mormont leads the few surviving men of the Night's Watch who survived the slaughter at the Battle of the Fist of the First Men as they travel south in hope of reaching the Wall. Samwell Tarly is exhausted and cannot keep walking. Rast the raper is annoyed that Sam didn't fight but just hid during the battle, and thinks they should leave him because he's slowing them down. Sam is upset that Grenn and Dolorous Edd left him behind at the start of the attack when they ran back to base camp ahead of him, though they don't want to leave him now. Mormont tells Sam that he has to keep moving, and sternly commands, "Tarly, I forbid you to die." Mormont also tells Rast, that he must watch over Tarly and keep him alive until they reach the wall, or he will die as well.

In the North

Bran Stark is having a prophetic dream in which he is walking and hunting in the woods, and sees the mysterious three-eyed raven again. As he aims with his bow, he relives his memories of when he was practicing archery with Jon and Robb, and hears the voice of his father Eddard (memories of a scene at Winterfell which happened in the first episode of the series). Bran shoots at the raven but misses, but then an unknown boy appears, who tells him that he cannot shoot the raven, because Bran is the raven. Bran awakens suddenly, worrying Hodor for a moment but he says he is fine. Osha says they have enough problems without dark dreams. Bran, Rickon, Osha, Hodor, and the direwolves Summer and Shaggydog continue to head north from Winterfell to the Wall.

Later, the same boy from the dream approaches their camp in the woods unarmed, and while Summer snarls at him at first he then sniffs his hand and turns away. Osha comes up behind the boy with a sharpened wooden spear, only for the boy's sister to come up behind Osha and pull a knife to her throat. Everyone then calms down, and the boy introduces himself as Jojen Reed, and his sister is Meera Reed. House Reed are loyal bannermen of House Stark, and they have been searching for Bran and Rickon so they can protect them.

Sometime later, when they are on the move again, Jojen and Bran discuss his wolf-dreams, and Jojen explains that Bran himself is a warg. Jojen says that it starts out as vivid dreams seeing the world through his wolf's eyes, but with practice he will be able to consciously enter the mind of his wolf and control its actions. Bran asks if prophetic dreams are part of being a warg, but Jojen explains that's a different, related magical ability. "The Sight" allows those who possess it to see events that haven't happened yet, or events that happened long before they were born, or events happening now but thousands of miles away. Jojen confirms that Bran's dream of his father Eddard the day he died was an example of the Sight, and that Jojen himself had a similar dream the same day. He says that when he told his father, Lord Howland Reed, he openly wept, for he correctly realized that his son's dream signified that Eddard was dead. Bran says that Howland was a great friend of his father Eddard's who fought alongside him during Robert's Rebellion, though Jojen says Howland doesn't like to talk about the war much. Jojen also confirms that Bran wasn't simply experiencing a vision of Jojen in his earlier dream, but it was Jojen himself who reached out with his mind to contact Bran in his dream, and Jojen remembers seeing the three-eyed raven too.

At an indeterminate location, apparently not too far from where he was, Theon Greyjoy has been chained up in a dungeon. Men come in, some wearing ironborn clothing, and interrogate him. The "interrogation" doesn't involve any real questions and seems to be intended just to break Theon, as when he asks what they want one of the guards simply says "this" and proceeds to start prying his fingernails off with a knife. Later, they slowly turn a screw into his foot until it is bleeding freely, repeatedly asking him why he captured Winterfell, but apparently not caring about the answers he gives. Theon, for his part, at first tells them the simple truth (that he wanted to take and hold Winterfell while the North was weak to impress his father), then starts frantically lying (saying he hates the Starks and is their enemy), desperately trying to figure out what his captors even want him to tell them. When the guards leave they put a bag over his head, but a servant boy comes over to Theon and unwinds the screw on his foot, and tells him that he has been sent by his sister Yara to rescue him. However, he must wait until nightfall when the castle is asleep, so he puts the bag back on and the desperate Theon is left alone crying for help.

In King's Landing

King Joffrey Baratheon is being fitted for new clothes in his chambers, in preparation for his upcoming wedding to Margaery Tyrell. His mother Cersei begins to criticize Margaery, saying that she is only charitable to the poor to build up support for herself, and also saying that she thinks she dresses like a harlot. However, Joffrey barely tolerates his mother's chiding and simply tells her off.

Meanwhile, Shae is dressing Sansa Stark in her chambers, and she warns Sansa about Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish. She points out that Baelish has offered to help her in exchange for nothing in return, which probably means he's after something. Sansa naively says he's an old friend of her mother's, that should be reason enough. More to the point, Shae suggests that Baelish is actually sexually attracted to Sansa. This disturbs Sansa, but she thinks it is simply impossible, as Baelish is so much older than her, and surely "Littlefinger's not in love with me". Shae continues to warn Sansa that Baelish is manipulative and men usually only want "one thing" from pretty young ladies.

Ser Loras Tyrell arrives at the door and escorts Sansa to the gardens to meet with Margaery and their grandmother, Lady Olenna Tyrell. Sansa points out that she met Loras once before at the Tourney of the Hand, and he takes his leave after introducing her. Lady Olenna is a cunning and intelligent woman who speaks her mind, and bluntly says that her son Mace was a fool for supporting Renly Baratheon's claim to the throne, though Margaery speaks well of Renly. Lady Olenna insists that Sansa tell her the truth about what Joffrey is like, as he is to marry Margaery. Sansa blurts out that Joffrey said he would show her father mercy, only to behead him in front of her and then say he meant the mercy of a quick death, then forced her to look at his head on a spike - but then Sansa catches herself and starts robotically reciting her lines about how great Joffrey is. Olenna continues to prod Sansa as she fidgets around, and it becomes obvious that she is visibly afraid about being overheard. After enough times of Olenna insisting that she can trust her not to repeat what she says, Sansa blurts out that Joffrey is "a monster". Olenna is not pleased but takes this in stride, and having finished with Sansa ponders how to proceed.

Elsewhere, Shae shows up in Tyrion Lannister's new chambers, though he warns her that his father threatened to kill her if he found her with him again, and that his father follows through on such threats. Undeterred, Shae starts undressing Tyrion, and asks him for a favor: to protect Sansa from Baelish. Tyrion says he doesn't have enough power or influence anymore to attempt to do that, though Shae accuses him of being attracted to Sansa, which he cheerfully denies. It also comes out that Tyrion had sex with Ros back in the North, though Tyrion points out it was before he met Shae. They joke around about it then start having sex.

Margaery then comes in to Joffrey's chambers to see if he needs anything, as he is planning to go out hunting, though Sansa previously warned that he is a monster. While Joffrey has previously been easy for Margaery to manipulate, Cersei was apparently able to plant one seed of doubt in his mind: the fact that Margaery was married to his uncle Renly (and thus, already had sex with another man), whom Cersei described as a "traitor and known degenerate". Margaery says that she was ordered to marry a traitor as her family duty, but Joffrey implies that this still means he must have had sex with her. Margaery struggles at length in a very roundabout way to explain that she didn't, as Joffrey gets increasingly angry, so ultimately she comes around to saying that "I don't believe he was interested in the company of women". This gives Joffrey pause, and he asks what she means. Margaery says that Renly kept finding excuses to avoid sharing her bed. Then, trying to manipulate Joffrey's sympathy, she lies and says that the one time she was able to convince Renly to try to "make children" with her, he was very drunk and became brazen, and suggested "something that sounded very painful, which couldn't possibly result in children". Joffrey's fears that Margaery already had sex with another man pass, as he acknowledges that Renly was a "known degenerate". Joffrey then tries to impress her by playing around with a new hand-cranked custom crossbow he's had made, which he intends to go hunting with, and offers to take her with him to share in the excitement of killing something.

In the Riverlands

King Robb Stark is settling into the council chamber at Harrenhal with his wife Queen Talisa, when Lord Roose Bolton comes in bringing two letters which just came in via messenger-raven, each of which brings bad news. First, Robb's maternal grandfather Hoster Tully has finally died after a long illness at his castle of Riverrun. Second, Roose delivers a letter from his bastard son Ramsay Snow, stating that when the ironborn realized they couldn't hold Winterfell, they torched the castle and put all of its inhabitants to the sword, and then fled. There has been no sighting of Bran or Rickon, and though Robb hopes that they are still alive, there is a strong possibility that they are dead. Moreover, there has been no word of Theon, and if he took the boys captive the Greyjoys haven't sent out any demands. This double-blow reduces Catelyn Stark to tears, who laments that she had not seen her father in years. She is horrified at the thought that Bran and Rickon were in danger while she was away and could not protect them, and are now likely dead.

Robb leaves Roose Bolton in command of Harrenhal with a detachment of the Northern army while Robb leads his main host back across the Riverlands to Riverrun. Lord Rickard Karstark angrily says that this is a waste of time, though Robb points out that Catelyn's brother and his uncle, Edmure Tully, is now lord of Riverrun and his levies will reinforce their army. Karstark maintains that unless Edmure has been breeding soldiers like rabbits, it will make no difference: with their new Tyrell allies, the Lannisters outnumber them over two to one. Robb asks if Karstark has lost faith in their cause, and Karstark says he still believes in revenge. However, the fact that Robb lost his home castle, and now his home castle has been burned down and its people all killed, makes him seem vulnerable in the eyes of his bannermen, and many no longer believe in Robb as they once did.

Talisa notices that Catelyn is making a prayer wheel for the Faith of the Seven, and Catelyn explains that they can only be made by mothers who are praying for the welfare of their children. Catelyn explains that she has only made them twice before, one of which was when she was praying for Bran to wake from his coma, which worked after a fashion, as he did survive though he lost the use of his legs. Talisa asks what was the other time, and Catelyn says that when they were younger, one of the boys had a pox, and Maester Luwin said that if he survived the night he would be all right, but if he didn't he would die. Catelyn reveals that the boy was actually Jon Snow, and at first the thought that Jon would conveniently die of natural causes made her inwardly pray to the Seven that he would indeed die. However, Catelyn then became horrified at herself for thinking such a thing, particularly as Jon was an innocent child, and the person Catelyn really hated was Jon's unidentified mother. So she made a prayer wheel and stayed up with him all night, praying to the gods that if they forgave her earlier wish that Jon would die, she promised she would urge Eddard to have Jon legitimized as a Stark and she would raise him as her own son. Jon recovered, however, Catelyn did not keep her promise. In grief at the death of her father and apparent death of her two youngest sons, and her continued grief at losing Eddard, Catelyn says the gods are punishing her misconduct with this war (which in some ways she helped set in motion when she kidnapped Tyrion Lannister).

Meanwhile, actually not too far away in the Riverlands, Arya Stark, Gendry, and Hot Pie are heading north from Harrenhal, planning to eventually reach the Red Fork of the Trident River and then follow it west to her grandfather's castle-seat at Riverrun. Off-screen, Arya explained to the boys how Jaqen H'ghar helped them escape because he offered that he would kill any three people she named. Gendry loudly criticizes Arya, in disbelief that she used up two of the names on minor Lannister guards when she could have said someone like "King Joffrey" or "Tywin Lannister" and ended the entire war, at which Arya simply gets quite defensive. However, as they advance in the forest, they run into a scouting party of the Brotherhood Without Banners, a group of outlaws. They recognize the name as the group the Lannister guards were asking about at Harrenhal. The leader of this group, Thoros of Myr, seems a friendly sort, and they make the children come with them. They later give them food and drink at a local inn. Gendry says he used to work as a smith in King's Landing for Tobho Mott, whom Thoros recognizes but says he charged double what the other smiths did; Gendry counters because that's because it was double the quality. Arya insists that she knows how to use a sword despite Thoros' disbelief, but when she tries to mock-fence with him he quickly disarms her, using a Water Dance move (unsurprising, as he is from the Free Cities). Some other members of the Brotherhood come in with a large hooded man whom they caught, and who is revealed to be none other than Sandor "The Hound" Clegane. They say they were able to capture him by just waiting until he got pass-out drunk somewhere then jumping him. As Thoros trades insults with Sandor, Arya tries to leave, but then Sandor stops in astonishment and asks what in seven hells they're doing with "the Stark bitch", revealing her identity to all.

Finally, Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth are slowly making their way across country through the Riverlands, heading to King's Landing to make the prisoner exchange for the Stark girls (really, just Sansa). Jaime continues to mock Brienne along the way. Brienne is wary enough not to let Jaime out of her sight, even insisting on keeping him on his leash and watching while he urinates so he doesn't slip away. Jaime deduces that Brienne isn't from the North because he would have noticed her at Winterfell when he visited there, so (as she is from House Tarth) she must be a Baratheon supporter. She angrily denies supporting Stannis, thus confirming that she served Renly. Jaime accurately deduces that she fancied Renly, but points out that Renly wasn't attracted to women so much as he was to Loras Tyrell. Brienne says she doesn't want to hear his filthy lies, but he says that he knew Renly better than she did, reminding her that both of them spent the last 17 years living in the Red Keep, ever since right after Robert's Rebellion when Renly was just a child prancing down the halls. Jaime insists that Renly's homosexuality was actually "the worst kept secret at court" if she thinks he's lying. He continues to casually mock Renly which makes Brienne grab him, but he relents and says he doesn't particularly care that Renly loved Loras, as he feels people aren't free to choose the ones they love (which he knows better than most). They come across a farmer pulling a cart, who notices that they're cutting cross-country and avoiding the major roads, and suspects that they're avoiding soldiers. Jaime tells Brienne that he suspects the man is a scout meant to intercept them, and even if he isn't he can still spread word he saw them, so she had best kill the man, but she refuses.

Later, the pair have to cross a river, which means they can either attempt a dangerous crossing or take the bridge, which will probably be watched. Brienne takes the safer route of the bridge, but Jaime manages to distract her long enough to take away her spare sword and cut his bonds. Brienne and Jaime enter into an extended sword fight on the bridge. Jaime, one of the most skilled swordsmen in all of Westeros, nearly overcomes Brienne several times. However, Jaime's mobility is reduced because his hands are still manacled, and he is malnourished after having spent the past full year chained up in a cell. Jaime begins to tire, and Brienne wears him down further by making simple body-blows with kicks and punches. After a protracted fight Jaime finally slumps to the ground in exhaustion. Just then, riders from House Bolton arrive led by a man named Locke. Jaime asks if they want to negotiate, but Locke says they'll have his head if he doesn't bring the Kingslayer back to the King in the North, so there's not much Jaime can do to dissuade him from taking them prisoner.

Appearances

Main: Dark Wings, Dark Words/Appearances

Characters

First

• Jojen Reed
• Lady Olenna Tyrell
• Meera Reed
• Orell
• Thoros of Myr
• Anguy
• Skinner
• Unidentified boy
• Locke

Deaths

• Hoster Tully

Production

Cast

Starring Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister Kit Harington as Jon Snow Richard Madden as King Robb Stark Michelle Fairley as Lady Catelyn Stark Natalie Dormer as Lady Margaery Tyrell Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Prince Bran Stark Jack Gleeson as King Joffrey Baratheon Sophie Turner as Princess Sansa Stark Maisie Williams as Princess Arya Stark Alfie Allen as Prince Theon Greyjoy Oona Chaplin as Queen Talisa Stark Joe Dempsie as Gendry Rose Leslie as Ygritte John Bradley as Samwell Tarly James Cosmo as Lord Commander Jeor Mormont Sibel Kekilli as Shae Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane

Guest starring Diana Rigg as Lady Olenna Tyrell Ciarán Hinds as Mance Rayder Mackenzie Crook as Orell Paul Kaye as Thoros of Myr Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth Noah Taylor as Locke Natalia Tena as Osha Michael McElhatton as Lord Roose Bolton Iwan Rheon as Boy Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane Finn Jones as Ser Loras Tyrell Thomas Brodie Sangster as Jojen Reed Ellie Kendrick as Meera Reed Ben Hawkey as Hot Pie John Stahl as Lord Rickard Karstark Philip McGinley as Anguy Mark Stanley as Grenn Ben Crompton as Eddison Tollett Luke Barnes as Rast Kristian Nairn as Hodor Art Parkinson as Prince Rickon Stark Michael Shelford as Skinner Joe Purcell as a Riverrun traveler Joe Cassidy as a King's Landing tailor Will Rastall as Tyrell server

Cast notes

• 18 of 28 cast members for the third season appear in this episode.
• Starring cast members Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister), Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon), Jerome Flynn (Bronn), Aidan Gillen (Petyr Baelish), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), Conleth Hill (Varys), and Carice van Houten (Melisandre) are not credited and do not appear in this episode.

Notes

• "Dark wings, dark words" is an old saying about messenger-ravens, referring to the fact that such urgently delivered messages are often bad news. In the episode, Robb Stark receives news of the death of Hoster Tully as well as the Sack of Winterfell and the disapperances of Bran and Rickon.
• A few scenes with Arya Stark were filmed for the first episode of Season 3, but it was later decided that the episode was getting over-crowded, so all of Arya's scenes were moved to the next episode. Both episodes have the same director anyway (Daniel Minahan), though the season premiere was written by Benioff and Weiss, while the second episode is written by Vanessa Taylor.
• Daenerys Targaryen, Stannis Baratheon, and their accompanying storylines do not appear in this episode. Tywin Lannister and the Small Council members do not appear in this episode.
• Astapor appears in the opening credits but doesn't appear in the episode. Meanwhile, for storyline reasons, the place in which Theon is imprisoned is not mentioned in any way and doesn't appear in the opening sequence.
• It is now public knowledge in Robb Stark's army that he married Talisa, although their marriage had to be kept a secret in the Season 2 finale. Roose Bolton even addresses Talisa as "my Queen", and Rickard Karstark criticizes Robb that things have been getting worse for them since he married her.
• A considerable amount of dialogue in this episode refers to the homosexual relationship between Renly Barathon and Loras Tyrell. In the books, it was implied and largely "off stage", but George R.R. Martin has independently confirmed that he did intend for them to be lovers. The exact extent to which other people knew about Renly's sexuality was also not entirely clear, as even Jaime Lannister makes a stray comment about it at one point. Jaime's explanation in this episode, which was not present in the books, is that Renly's homosexuality was "the worst kept secret at court" - Varys, Littlfinger, Cersei and others do have numerous spies in the capital city, so it is unsurprising that word of it may had spread around. Cersei's commenting to Joffrey that Renly was a "degenerate" is also an invented scene, as is the scene between Joffrey and Margaery in which she tries to explain that he "didn't enjoy the company of women".
• This episode marks the death of Catelyn's father Hoster Tully, even though he has never appeared alive on screen before.
• Gendry explicitly points out that if Jaqen H'ghar really was a highly skilled assassin and would have killed anyone in the world if she named them, that Arya should have picked someone like King Joffrey or Tywin Lannister. In the books, Arya herself realizes that she used up her first two names on relatively minor targets, but by the time she has to use her third name is more concerned with just escaping Harrenhal.

In the books

See Differences between books and TV series - Season 3#Dark Wings, Dark Words

• The episode is adapted from the following chapters of A Storm of Swords:
  • Chapter 3, Arya I: Arya, Gendry and Hot Pie plan to follow the Red Fork to Riverrun.
  • Chapter 6, Sansa I: Margaery Tyrell and her grandmother Lady Olenna host a meal for Sansa Stark and question her about King Joffrey's nature.
  • Chapter 9, Bran I: Bran Stark, Hodor and the Reeds head for the Wall.
  • Chapter 13, Arya II: Arya and her companions run into Thoros of Myr and the Brotherhood Without Banners, one of whom recognizes her.
  • Chapter 18, Samwell I: Samwell Tarly collapses on the march back to the Wall, but his brothers help him to his feet.
  • Chapter 21, Jaime III: Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth get into a vicious sword battle before they are captured by a band loyal to the Northmen.
  • Chapter 29, Arya V: The Brotherhood Without Banners captures Sandor Clegane.
  • Chapter 35, Catelyn IV: Hoster Tully passes away.
• In addition, the following chapters from A Clash of Kings form the basis for the introduction of Jojen and Meera Reed:
  • Chapter 21, Bran III: Jojen and Meera arrive at Winterfell as wards; Bran recalls that their fathers fought in Robert's Rebellion.
  • Chapter 28, Bran IV: Meera explains that Jojen is a Greenseer; Jojen asks Bran about the three-eyed raven he sees in his dreams.
  • Chapter 35, Bran V: Jojen tells Bran that he is a warg.
• Theon's scenes are loosely adapted from chapters in later books, which recount details of his imprisonment in flashback. The TV series is showing these events in chronological order.

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