The Old Gods and the New

"The Old Gods and the New" is the sixth episode of the second season of Game of Thrones. It is the sixteenth episode of the series overall. It will premiere on May 6, 2012. It was written by co-executive producer Vanessa Taylor and directed by David Nutter.

In the Seven Kingdoms
At Winterfell, Maester Luwin frantically sends off a messenger raven just as a band of raiders from House Greyjoy, led by Theon Greyjoy, take over the undefended castle. Off-screen, the few hundred defenders that remained behind in the North left Winterfell undefended to repulse an Ironborn raid against Torrhen's Square to the south, but the attack was actually just a feint meant to lure away Winterfell's garrison. Theon tells Bran Stark to assemble everyone in the courtyard and surrender the castle to him, and left with no defenders Bran submits. Ser Rodrik Cassel is captured by Theon's men as he is returning from Torrhen's Square. He spits in Theon's face, and Dagmer Cleftjaw insists that Theon must kill him, or lose face in front of his Ironborn raiders. Theon executes Ser Rodrik. Later that night, Osha the Wildling has sex with Theon, but then sneaks out of his room while he is asleep and kills one of his guards. Osha frees Bran, Rickon Stark, and Hodor and smuggles them out of the castle.

At King Robb Stark's army camp in the Westerlands, Robb chats with Talisa, who has followed his forces on their campaign. Robb introduces Talisa to his mother Catelyn Stark, who has returned from the Stormlands along with Brienne of Tarth. They are interrupted when Lord Roose Bolton arrives with the terrible news sent by Luwin's last messenger raven, that Theon Greyjoy has betrayed them and Winterfell has fallen to the Ironborn. Furious, Robb intends to march his army back to the North to repel the invasion, but at the cost of leaving the Riverlands to Tywin Lannister's main army. Roose Bolton offers that the few hundred soldiers left scattered in the North can be rallied by his own bastard son, Ramsay Snow, who is still in the North at the Bolton's castle-seat, Dreadfort. Given the small size of the Ironborn invasion, a skeleton force which is only succeeding because the North is so lightly defended, it would be easier to send messenger ravens back north and let Bolton's bastard organize a defense, than to retreat Robb Stark's entire Northern army group back to Winterfell and abandon the Riverlands. Robb agrees, but insists that Bolton's men take Theon alive...so Robb can look him in the eyes and ask "Why?" before personally executing Theon himself.

At Harrenhal castle, in the main base camp for the House Lannister army in the Riverlands, Tywin Lannister berates Ser Amory Lorch for failing to deliver a letter, because he cannot read. He discovers that his cupbearer "Arry" (secretly Arya Stark) can read. Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish then arrives at camp and meets with Tywin, and Arya hides because Littlefinger has met her before and knows who she really is. Baelish discusses the assassination of Renly Baratheon, and how this means that most of the noble Houses from the Stormlands have now rallied under the banner of his older brother Stannis Baratheon. However, House Tyrell of the Reach has retreated its large army back to their capital at Highgarden, and has not joined Stannis. Baelish discusses with Tywin the possibility of forming an alliance between House Lannister and House Tyrell.

While Tywin is distracted, Arya sees that a letter on his table is about her older brother Robb Stark, so she snatches it and runs away. As she makes her way through the castle, Amory Lorch sees that she is holding the letter and grows suspicious. Amory heads to tell Tywin as Arya runs to find Jaqen H'ghar. She finds him, she tells Jaqen that Amory Lorch is the second name she owes him. Just as Amory Lorch is about to reach Tywin's door, he falls down dead, a poisoned dart lodged in his neck.

In King's Landing, the royal court including King Joffrey Baratheon, Queen Regent Cersei Lannister, Prince Tommen Baratheon, and Sansa Stark are at the docks seeing off Princess Myrcella Baratheon as she departs in a ship bound for Dorne. As per the plans Tyrion has been developing, she will stay in Dorne with House Martell until she comes of age to fulfill the marriage alliance to their youngest son, Trystane Martell. The High Septon of the Faith of the Seven offers a blessing for her departure. The streets of the capital city are overflowing with starving refugees from the War of the Five Kings, as Cersei ignored both Tyrion and Janos Slynt's earlier warnings that something had to be done to care for the starving peasants or there would be mounting discontent with her son's rule.

As the royal party travels back to the Red Keep through the crowded streets, the refugees and commoners of King's Landing hurl insults at King Joffrey, and ultimately, hurl cow excrement into Joffrey's face. Despite being accompanied by only a few dozen guards facing hundreds of peasants, Joffrey impetuously shouts orders for his soldiers to kill them all. A general riot then breaks out and spreads throughout the city, with the royal party barely making it back to the castle in one piece. The High Septon is torn limb from limb by the mob.

Tyrion Lannister is flabbergasted by Joffrey's stupidity, as he should have realized both that his orders would cause a riot among the starving peasants and that he was badly outnumbered. When Joffrey defiantly insists that Tyron can't speak to his king this way, Tyrion slaps him across the face, noting that he has now been able to slap the king, but his hand hasn't magically fallen off. With Joffrey sulking, Tyrion desperately tries to secure the castle. With most of the regular Lannister army in the Riverlands fighting in the war under Lord Tywin Lannister, the scant two thousand City Watch guards have difficulty containing the riot, and chaos reigns throughout the city. While Tyrion, Joffrey, and Cersei made it to the safety of the Red Keep, they realize to their horror that Sansa Stark got lost in the crowd, though Joffrey is once again oblivious to how important she is as a political hostage. Sansa is being dragged away by a mob of angry men and is about to be raped, when Sandor "The Hound" Clegane arrives and fights off her assailants, saving Sansa's life.

Beyond the Wall
The scouting party of the Night's Watch led by Qhorin Halfhand has left the expeditionary base their main force set up at the Fist of the First Men, and continues searching for the Wildlings in the Frostfangs mountain range. They encounter a small group of Wildling scouts and engage them in combat, killing all except one: a red-haired young woman named Ygritte. Qhorin orders Jon Snow to execute her while the rest of them continue on up the mountain. Jon hesitates, giving Ygritte enough time to make a run for it. Jon pursues and captures Ygritte, but they have become separated from Qhorin's scouting party. With darkness falling, Jon and his prisoner have to settle in for the night, hoping to link back up with Qhorin when daylight returns.

Across the Narrow Sea
In Qarth, Daenerys Targaryen tries to negotiate with the Spice King for ships to return to Westeros in. However, he considers it to be too risky an investment - considering that she has no army and has no open supporters in Westeros - and she receives nothing. Returning with Xaro Xhoan Daxos to his mansion, they find Xaro's guards dead, Irri left unconscious on the ground, and Daenerys' dragons missing, their cages empty. A hooded figure carries the dragons in a covered box up steps towards a tower.

Memorable Quotes
[A city wide riot starts in King's Landing after Joffrey orders his men to attack a crowd of peasants, and the royal party barely makes it back within the gate of the Red Keep as the streets descend into chaos]

King Joffrey Baratheon: "Traitors! All their heads!"

Tyrion Lannister: "Oh you blind, bloody fool!" Joffrey: "You can't insult me!"

Tyrion: "We've had vicious kings, and we've had idiot kings...but I don't know if we've ever been cursed with a vicious-idiot-boy-king!"

Joffrey: "You, you cant!"

Tyrion: "I can, I am!"

Joffrey: "They attacked ME!"

Tyrion: "They threw a cowpie at you! So you decide to kill them all?! They're starving you fool! All because of a war you started!"

Joffrey: "You're talking to a king!"

[Tyrion slaps Joffrey across the face, sending him sprawling]

Tyrion: "And now I've struck a king! Did my hand fall from my wrist?!" [To the guards] Where is the Stark girl?!

Joffrey: [growling] "Let them have her!"

Tyrion" "If she dies you'll never get your uncle Jaime back! You owe him quite a bit, you know!"

First Appearances

 * Farlen
 * Palla
 * The High Septon
 * Ygritte

Deaths

 * Ser Rodrik Cassel
 * The High Septon
 * Ser Amory Lorch
 * Irri

Cast
Starring
 * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
 * Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister
 * Michelle Fairley as Lady Catelyn Stark
 * Emilia Clarke as Khaleesi Daenerys Targaryen
 * Aidan Gillen as Lord Petyr Baelish
 * Kit Harington as Jon Snow
 * Charles Dance as Lord Tywin Lannister
 * Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Prince Bran Stark
 * Richard Madden as King Robb Stark
 * Sophie Turner as Princess Sansa Stark
 * Maisie Williams as Princess Arya Stark
 * Alfie Allen as Prince Theon Greyjoy
 * Jack Gleeson as King Joffrey Baratheon
 * Sibel Kekilli as Shae
 * Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane

Guest starring
 * Donald Sumpter as Maester Luwin
 * Ron Donachie as Ser Rodrik Cassel
 * Natalia Tena as Osha
 * Michael McElhatton as Lord Roose Bolton
 * Nonso Anozie as Xaro Xhoan Daxos
 * Nicholas Blane as the Spice King
 * Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen H'ghar
 * Rose Leslie as Ygritte
 * Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth
 * Oona Chaplin as Talisa Maegyr
 * Simon Armstrong as Qhorin Halfhand
 * Ralph Ineson as Dagmer Cleftjaw
 * Ian Beattie as Ser Meryn Trant
 * Fintan McKeown as Ser Amory Lorch
 * Forbes KB as Black Lorren
 * Amrita Acharia as Irri
 * Kristian Nairn as Hodor
 * Steven Cole as Kovarro
 * David Verrey as the High Septon
 * Peter Ballance as Farlen
 * David Coakley as
 * Aimee Richardson as Princess Myrcella Baratheon
 * Art Parkinson as Prince Rickon Stark
 * Callum Wharry as Prince Tommen Baratheon
 * Reg Wayment as
 * Aiden Condron as a Greyjoy guard
 * Marko Juraga as
 * Rea Separovic as
 * Paul Caddell as
 * Aidan Crowe as

Cast notes

 * Only 15 of the 25 starring cast members for the second season appear in this episode.
 * Starring cast members Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister), Iain Glen (Jorah Mormont), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell), Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon), Carice van Houten (Melisandre), Conleth Hill (Varys), James Cosmo (Jeor Mormont) and Jerome Flynn (Bronn) are not credited and do not appear in this episode.
 * Jack Gleeson is credited ahead of Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams when he was credited after them when they last appeared together in "Garden of Bones."

Promotional video
File:Game Of Thrones Season 2 Episode 16 Preview|Episode 16 preview

In the books

 * Ser Rodrik Cassel doesn't die in the Fall of Winterfell to the Ironborn, nor is he killed by Theon Greyjoy. Indeed, the TV series has been departing from the books in past episodes by stressing that it wasn't really Theon's idea to attack Winterfell, so much as an idea Dagmer suggested to him that he desperately seized upon to get his men to respect him. Theon was much more of his own agent in planning to attack Winterfell in the books, albeit he did so because he felt driven to impress his father. Ironically, in the TV series Theon is depicted as being less responsible for the fall of Winterfell than he was in the books, while at the same time directly responsible for Ser Rodrik's death, which he didn't do in the books.
 * Ser Amory Lorch does not die like this in the books, nor have the past two kills been the names that Arya Stark asked Jaqen H'ghar to kill. In the books, the first two of three names that Arya gave Jaqen to kill where two minor characters at Harrenhal, Weese and Chyswick, who were helping Ser Gregor Clegane torment the prisoners. Instead, in the TV series, Jaqen killed The Tickler last episode, and now Amory Lorch. The Tickler actually goes on to perform some prominent actions in the next book so this will cause some more differences between book and screen later on. Ser Amory Lorch also dies at Harrenhal, but when he is betrayed by the mercenary company known as the Brave Companions (a motley mix of the worst filth, psychotics, and murderers from Westeros and Essos) and fed alive to a bear for their own amusement.
 * None of the events shown in Qarth in this episode happened in the books, in any form. Daenerys' people were never attacked within the walls of Xaro's mansion and her dragons were never absconded with.
 * Continuing from previous episodes, Roose Bolton is not with Robb Stark's army group in the west; rather, in the books he is commanding the other half of their army that is fighting in the east near Harrenhal. The general idea that they should send word north for his bastard son Ramsay Snow to try to liberate Winterfell from the Ironborn is, however, essentially present in the books, but it communicated via messenger raven.
 * Osha's role was increased in the TV series, and she does not seduce Theon in the books. Osha does ultimately help Bran, Rickon, and Hodor escape Winterfell, but in a different manner.
 * Littlefinger's scenes with Tywin Lannister discussing a possible alliance with House Tyrell do not specifically happen in the books, however they do represent planning that occurs "off screen" in the books, that is conducted via messenger raven. In the books, Littlefinger travels straight from King's Landing to the Tyrell army gathering at Bitterbridge and doesn't meet with Tywin in person, though both of them and the Small Council are exchanging letters via messenger raven.
 * In the books, the riot in King's Landing is decidedly more violent and disturbing. The royal entourage is stopped in the street when a dazed refugee peasant woman stands in the middle of the road, holding her blue and dead baby, which starved to death because of the war. Joffrey condescendingly throws a coin at her which bounces off the dead baby, and Cersei condescendingly tells Joffrey to leave the "poor woman" alone. The refugee woman then snaps, drops her dead baby like a sack of flour in the street, points at Cersei and starts shouting "Brotherfucker!", as the whole crowd takes up the chant. Ser Aron Santagar and Ser Preston Greenfield of the Kingsguard are killed.
 * In this TV episode, Tywin relates to Arya that his son Jaime Lannister has what seems to be dyslexia: as a child he kept writing letters backwards, and the Maesters diagnosed it as an actual medical condition they were aware of. This hasn't been mentioned in the books, at least not as of current novels in the series, though it isn't implausible. Jaime is shown within both the books and TV series reading letters, though in real life people with dyslexia can functionally read after extensive training; similarly, in the TV series Tywin says he made Jaime practice writing four hours a day to overcome his deficiency.