Game of Thrones “High Sparrow” 

Like a bad penny, Jorah Mormont shows up when you least expect him. Tyrion warns Varys that he’s losing his mind being cooped up during their travel to Meereen. Volantis seems like a good place to get a breath of fresh air. Even though Tyrion knows the danger, he’s willing to risk it.

And, of course, he’s eager to seek out a brothel. Strangely enough, it doesn’t seem like he wants to get laid once he’s picked out a companion. Maybe he’s not really over Shae yet or maybe it’s something else, but Tyrion doesn’t seem to have any desire to have sex in that moment. It’s as he’s relieving himself (and maybe psyching himself up) that Jorah kidnaps him. He tells Tyrion he’s taking him to the Queen. He means Cersei, of course, and if he manages to actually get Tyrion back to King’s Landing there’s no telling how much coin he’ll receive for his prize.

Cersei, who seems to have a bit of difficulty settling into her new role as Queen Mother, is still in charge behind the scenes. Tommen, as quite a few people have remarked, is too sweet to rule and Margaery has no trouble manipulating him. After Renley and Joffrey, finally here is someone Margery can truly control. And the people love her. But with Cersei handling the day-to-day business of running the kingdom, I wonder how successful Margaery will actually be at trying to rule this realm.

As Margaery gossips with her ladies and attempts to but Cersei in her place, the Queen Mother goes to meet with the High Sparrow. His devotees shamed and beat the High Septon. Yes, he’s a hypocrite and is punished by Cersei for such by being thrown into the dungeon. But as she tells the High Sparrow — a title he finds absurd, considering it was given to him by his enemies — that the crown and the faith hold their world together; without one they both will crumble. So for now, it looks like they are allies.

An uneasy and unsettling alliance has been forged between Lord Baelish and Lord Bolton. Roose is worried he can only hold the North through violence and intimidation for so long. Ramsay is used to handling things in a violent way, but his father wants to teach him to be more diplomatic. So he’s agreed to a marriage between Sansa Stark and his son. She’s what the Bolton’s need to have a more legitimate claim on the North, especially since so many of the people are resistant to having anyone but a Stark be in charge.

Sansa is understandably upset and objects, but Baelish assures her he won’t force her to go through with anything she doesn’t want. Ramsay promises that he’ll never hurt Sansa, but I have a hard time believing that. He excels at torture and murder and his girlfriend is probably jealous of this betrothal so it’s hard to image this is a good match for Sansa. I honestly can’t imagine this working, so I’m hoping Baelish and/or Sansa have some dark purpose in mind. Ramsay Bolton needs to be punished and I want to watch Sansa do it. And I think Reek is wise to hide from Sansa. He should be ashamed for what he did to the Starks in the past. I do think his treatment at Ramsay’s hands should earn him a little slack, but he did some pretty horrible things when he was still Theon Greyjoy.

Speaking of dual identities, it looks like it’s time for Arya Stark to shed all the vestiges of her old life. In order to become no one, she has to divest herself of everything belonging to and identifying her as a Stark. I don’t quite understand what Jaqen H’ghar is trying to teach her, but I guess that will be revealed soon enough. Also, I’m not sure how successful her training will be considering she hid needle instead of getting rid of it. No matter what she tells H’ghar about being ready to serve, she’s not there yet.

Pod, on the other hand, is quite eager to start his training. I’ve enjoyed seeing Brienne try to reconcile being something — a mentor? a friend? — to Podrick. She’s had a lot of loss and disappointment in her life and I think she’s terrified of letting someone else down. But Pod is loyal and eager to learn from Brienne. After all, he considers the best fighter he’s ever seen. So as they make their way to Winterfell, she’ll teach Pod to fight.

Jon Snow is quick to show the men of the Night’s Watch who’s in charge. He can’t take Stannis up on his offer because of his vows, but he can start acting like the Lord Commander. So when Janos openly defies him, Jon takes care of that problem. I thought he might show the man mercy, after all Janos admitted that he was just afraid. But if the men don’t respect (and maybe fear) him, there’s no way Jon Snow can be an effective leader. Winter is coming, after all.

 Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.