Episode 1 Recap: Valar Dohaeris
The season premiere of the third season of Game of Thrones starts from where it left off in season two. King Joffrey is victorious after the battle at the Blackwater. The recap begins while the allies of the Lannisters are settling down at the capital. Tywin tells his son, Tyrion, that his intentions are to disinherit him. This is a shock to Tyrion because Jaime, who is his older brother, had already given up on inheriting his father’s lands. It means that Tyrion is the next in line to inherit his father. The reasons for Tywin to go ahead with the disinheriting Tyrion include poor performance as the Hand of the King. Also, Tyrion wasn’t helpful during the battle in defending the city.
Joffrey comes back from the Great Sept in a heavily guarded palanquin. On the way, Lady Margaery ends the procession of a betrothing activity. The Lady shocks both the guards and Joffrey by deciding to get out and explore a King’s Landing orphanage. While exploring the orphanage, the servants of Lady Margaery pass toys and bread to the children, thus earning the Lady some love from the children and bystanders.
Later on in the evening, Cersei and Joffrey take a visit to the Lady’s house for a small dinner. The queen reprimands the charity work that the lady did, and reminds her that the street where she stopped was the same street where an assault took place. Joffrey defends the Lady and Cersei comes to realize that she is being outmaneuvered. For Cersei, she is only accustomed to ruling with fear. Nevertheless, the lady knows exactly how to win the love of those she rules, which is something that Cersei lacks.
Sansa and Shae watch ships arrive and depart, where Sansa wants to play a game of guessing where the ships may be going. However, Shae is not interested in her games. Petyr arrives with the intention of seeing Sansa, but she leaves immediately. Petyr suggests that the next time he will be leaving, Sansa might be able to stow away. In the meantime, Ros recalls the day Sansa was born, where the whole of Winterfell celebrated by ringing all the bells. She then asks Shae to take care of Sansa, especially when it comes to Littlefinger.
Robb introduces a new offense mechanism to the east and sacks the castle of Harrenhall. This does not cause the morale boost Robb had been hoping for. Tywin had withdrawn his garrison to counter attack the Baratheon soldiers. Robb, alongside his forces, is demoralized, especially when he found out that the Lannister had massacred more than two hundred prisoners from the Riverland and the Northern; and that the courtyards were filled with piles of bodies of the massacred soldiers.
Daenerys arrives in Astapor. Here, she is shown the Unsullied, a group of slaves who are castrated as children then trained as soldiers. They do not fear pain or death. Daenerys inquires about how many of the Unsullied are available to her. She also encounters Barristan Selmy, who has decided to join her and proclaims her the rightful queen.
In the North, Jon meets Mance Rayder, The King Beyond the Wall. He also discovers that giants are realin the North. Jon manages to convince Mance that he has truly betrayed the Night’s Watch. He says that he understands that the White Walkers are the biggest threat to the kingdom and that he wishes to fight for the living.