relishes in reminding Tyrion how little he thinks of him and how lucky he is that his father didn't kill him after his wife died giving birth to the imp. (See the first episode recap for more on this) Is that some twisted parent version of the Oedipus complex Tywin is suffering from?

Later on, Tyrion and Cercei have a discussion about children and she tells him that the love of her children is what helped her make it through the early years and a child will give Sansa the only happiness she may ever know.

The Night's Watch

Ygritte finds Jon Snow at a watering hole and with arrows drawn, she looks him in the eye ready to pull.

You knew what I am. I have to go back. And when he tells her that he loves her and she loves him so she won't kill him, that last remaining piece of her heart cracks and she shoots him in the back. She rages at him because he gave up their love for, of all things, the Crows. She shoots him two more times and weeps in despair as he rides away.

Sam, GiIly and the baby stumble upon Bran and his merry lot. Bran tells him he's going beyond the wall and Sam warns him that there is only death there. Sam hands them some dragon glass tips to protect them and which he used to kill a White Walker. That's the first zombie king to be killed in thousands of years.

They finally make it back to Castle Black and find Maester Aemon. After hearing their story, he allows Gilly to stay with them for the time being and has Sam write messages for all forty-four messenger crows to be dispatched immediately.

Jon Snow makes it back to the Castle, but he's barely alive.

Reek

After having his male anatomy mutilated, Theon Greyjoy begs Ramsay to kill him. But instead, he mocks him with a cooked sausage until he realizes how bad Theon smells from being crucified on a makeshift wooden cross all this time. Ramsay tells him that he simply reeks with body odor. And being the sadist that he is, he decides to rename him as "Reek!" he then beats him until Theon accepts his new name. "I'm Reek!"

Baelon Greyjoy gets a present from Ramsay Snow, Roose Bolton's sadistic bastard son in a wooden box. It's Theon's severed male organ with a note telling him to get all his men out of the North or they will face the same outcome. Baelon mocks his son and orders his daughter to throw it away, but she refuses. She's going to gather the deadliest fifty men on the Islands, take a ship and get her brother back from that butcher.

Dragonstone

Davos tries to convince Stannis that there must be another way to achieve victory without sacrificing Gendry (his own nephew) to the fire, but he refuses.

What is the life of one bastard boy against a kingdom?

Rebuffed, Davos, who in a way has as strong a moral compass as Robb Stark did, sneaks Gendry out of the dungeon and gives him a row boat to escape in. Stannis is livid after finding out and sentences him to death, but Davos plays his final card to save himself and hands him a message from Maester Aemon. Melisandre reads it and gives Stannis a message that will change the course of their fight with Joffrey.

With those words, she spares Davos life because they will need him to rebuild Stannis' army to march to the north.

The Yellow City

Dany and her Unsullied await for the freed people of Yunkai to greet them outside the walls of the city. She's nervous that they won't accept her as their queen, but then the gates open and the entire slave population of the city pours out in front of her. Selmy and Jorah are nervous, fearing they may attack, but then a single word is said out loud by one freed slave "Mysha." It means "mother" in an ancient language and soon every ex-slave is chanting "Mysha" over and over again to her. She then walks out into the mob from Yunkai and is hoisted up as their savior.

Like her dragons before her at the end of season one, Daenerys has once again given birth to a new family.

* After Arya murders her first, she utters the words "Valar Morghulis." In High Valyrian it means "All men must die." How will she fulfill her promises of death to those that have wronged her?

* Lord Varys tries to bribe Shae to get out of King's Landing while she can because he believes Tyrion can lead the people back from the brink of disaster and her love of Tyrion will get them killed. She throws the diamonds at his feet.

*Jamie Lannister finally returns to King's Landing with Brienne and when he finds Cersei, she looks at him with a repulsed bewilderment because of what has happened to him on the road to King's Landing.

* Will she dump him?

* Am I crazy or does The Hound seem to have grown a conscience?

* Will Stannis fight the White Walkers head on before he deals with the Lannisters?

* How far will Tywin go in trying to control King Joffrey?

* What is to become of Reek?

* What will Bran find beyond the Wall?

* Will Mance Rayder's forces defeat the crows of the Knight's Watch in the upcoming attack on The Wall?

* Will Blackfish take his revenge on Walder Frey for killing Robb and Catelyn at the Red Wedding?

(Thanks so much for participating in our first ever review and recap of a great show like Game of Thrones. Looking at our stats, we've found that these posts are some of the most read posts on C&L every month even though a few of you were against it at first. Thanks for sticking with it. And thanks for all the corrections, opinions and insights that show up in the comment threads every week.)