A Man Without Honor

"A Man Without Honor" is the seventh episode of the second season of Game of Thrones. It is the seventeenth episode of the series overall. It premiered on May 13, 2012. It was written by executive producers David Benioff & D.B. Weiss and directed by David Nutter.

In the Seven Kingdoms
At Winterfell, now held by the ironborn, Theon Greyjoy awakens to find that Osha is gone and she has escaped with Hodor, Bran Stark, Rickon Stark and their direwolves. Theon berates Lorren for allowing them to escape. When Lorren counters that Theon is also to blame for sleeping with Osha and letting his guard down, Theon furiously beats him. Theon leads the ironborn on horse to hunt down the boys. The search leads them to a shepherds farm. Theon returns to Winterfell with two children's bodies burned beyond recognition.

At Harrenhal, Tywin Lannister is discussing the assassination of Amory Lorch with Ser Gregor Clegane. Tywin is convinced that it was an assasination attempt on himself, unaware that Jaqen H'ghar actually killed Lorch on the request of Arya Stark. As Arya eats in the background, Ser Gregory speculates that the Brotherhood Without Banners may have been responsible. Enraged, Tywin orders Gregor to burn out villages and farms in reprisal for this assassination attempt. Tywin begins to suspect that Arya is highborn, because she doesn't pronounce "M'Lord" the way commoners do and possesses an educated vocabulary. Arya makes the excuse that her mother taught her to speak well.

In King's Landing, Sansa Stark comes to thank Sandor "The Hound" Clegane for saving her life during the recent riot in the city. Sandor simply says that she doesn't need to thank him for killing her attackers, as killing is the sweetest thing there is. Sansa is perturbed by his "hateful speech", but Sandor cautions that a day will come when his cynical speech is all that stands between her and her "beloved" King Joffrey. Sansa awakens in her bed from a nightmare, only to find the sheets covered in blood - she has begun menstruating for the first time. Given that Joffrey openly promised to rape Sansa to "put a son in you" as soon as she had her blood, she then frantically tries to get rid of the bloody sheets to remove the evidence. Shae tries to help Sansa hide the sheets but Sandor finds them.

Terrified of being brought to Joffrey, Sansa is instead brought before Queen Regent Cersei Lannister, who awkwardly tries to comfort her. Cersei presents Sansa with warped advice on Joffrey, bizarre counseling based on her bitter marriage with King Robert Baratheon. Blithely waving away her son's torment of Sansa and homicidal outbursts she says that her brother Jaime Lannister stayed by her side the whole time she was giving birth to Joffrey, but Sansa should never expect such devotion from Joffrey. Cersei firmly believes that Sansa and Joffrey not being in love is a good thing; she advises Sansa "the more people you love, the weaker you are."

Privately, Cersei meets with Tyrion and expresses regret at having children with her own brother Jaime. She wonders if Joffrey's violent personality is the price of her and Jaime's sins. Tyrion earnestly points out that her other two children, Myrcella and Tommen, are not monsters, and they share an odd moment of sympathy.

At King Robb Stark's army camp in the Westerlands, close to an unidentified keep, Alton Lannister returns as an envoy giving Queen Cersei's response to Robb's peace terms. Robb is unsurprised that she rejected them. The nurse Talisa Maegyr discusses medical supplies she needs with Robb, who decides to attack the Crag to take the supplies they need. Alton is imprisoned with Jaime Lannister. Jaime kills Alton to lure the guard, Torrhen Karstark, into his cell. Jaime strangles Torrhen and escapes, but is soon recaptured. Torrhen was the son of Lord Rickard Karstark, one of the major nobles from the North. Lord Rickard demands Jaime's execution in revenge, regardless of his protected status as both a prisoner of war and a valuable political hostage. Catelyn is forced to argue for Jaime's life. Catelyn confronts Jaime and tells him that he has no honor. Jaime bitterly explains that his vows as a knight required him to defend the innocent and serve the king, but his king was slaughtering the innocent. Jaime considers concepts like "honor" and "loyalty" naive at best and hypocritical at worst. Jaime asserts that he has only been with Cersei and begins to ridicule Eddard Stark, Catelyn's former husband, by bringing up the shame of Eddard fathering a bastard. This brings Catelyn to breaking point and she asks for Brienne's sword.

Beyond the Wall
Jon Snow is still separated from the Night's Watch scouting group led by Qhorin Halfhand. He attempts to locate them, travelling with his Wildling prisoner Ygritte. She argues with Jon, criticizing him for ignoring their common descent from the First Men. She states that the animosity of the southerners to the Wildlings is arbitrary, given that the Wildlings are only distinguished from them by living north of the Wall when it was constructed. She mocks Jon's sexual repression and surmises that he is a virgin. She taunts him by offering to teach him how to have sex. She escapes again, and leads him into an ambush. Ygritte says that Jon should have taken her when he had the chance.

Across the Narrow Sea
In Qarth, Daenerys Targaryen is desperate to find her stolen dragons. Ser Jorah Mormont returns and she orders him to find them. Xaro Xhoan Daxos claims to be distressed at breaking his promise to protect her, fearing that his word will be publicly seen as worthless. Jorah questions Quaithe of Asshai. Quaithe knows that Jorah once betrayed Daenerys by spying on her. Quaithe warns Jorah that the man who stole the dragons is already with Daenerys. Jorah finds Daenerys, in the company of Kovarro, pleading with the council of The Thirteen to find her dragons. The warlock Pyat Pree confesses to stealing the dragons and declares Xaro the King of Qarth. Doubles of the warlock then magically appear behind the other members of the Thirteen and slit their throats, leaving only Pyat Pree and Xaro. Xaro secretly entered into an alliance with Pyat Pree to become king. They urge Daenerys to find her dragons at the House of the Undying.

Appearances

 * Main: A Man Without Honor/Appearances

First Appearances

 * Rickard Karstark
 * Torrhen Karstark
 * Billy
 * Jack

Deaths

 * Ser Alton Lannister
 * Torrhen Karstark
 * The Thirteen
 * Spice King
 * Silk King
 * Copper King

Cast
Starring
 * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
 * Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister
 * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister
 * Michelle Fairley as Lady Catelyn Stark
 * Emilia Clarke as Khaleesi Daenerys Targaryen
 * Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont
 * 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
 * Sibel Kekilli as Shae
 * Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane

Guest starring
 * Donald Sumpter as Maester Luwin
 * Ian Hanmore as Pyat Pree
 * Nicholas Blane as the Spice King
 * Nonso Anozie as Xaro Xhoan Daxos
 * Natalia Tena as Osha
 * Michael McElhatton as Lord Roose Bolton
 * Rose Leslie as Ygritte
 * Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth
 * Oona Chaplin as Talisa Maegyr
 * Ralph Ineson as Dagmer Cleftjaw
 * Laura Pradelska as Quaithe
 * John Stahl as Rickard Karstark
 * Karl Davies as Alton Lannister
 * Forbes KB as Black Lorren
 * Kristian Nairn as Hodor
 * Steven Cole as Kovarro
 * Ian Whyte as Ser Gregor Clegane
 * Art Parkinson as Prince Rickon Stark
 * Donagh Deeney as a Winterfell shepherd
 * Sara Dylan as a hand maid
 * Steve Wilson as Theon's master of hounds
 * Slavko Juraga as the Silk King
 * Tyrone McElhennon as Torrhen Karstark
 * Neill Fleming as a Stark soldier
 * Peter Ballance as Farlen
 * David Coakley as Drennan
 * Paul Caddell as Jacks
 * Duncan Lacroix as Stark soldier
 * David Sheehan as a Stark guard
 * Aidan Crowe as a Stark guard
 * Reg Wayment as a rioter

Uncredited
 * Unknown as Palla
 * Unknown as Billy
 * Unknown as Jack
 * Unknown as Malakho

Cast notes

 * Only 15 of the 25 starring cast members for the second season appear in this episode.
 * Starring cast members Aidan Gillen (Petyr Baelish), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly), Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon), 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.

Promotional video
File:Game Of Thrones Season 2 Episode 17 Preview|Episode 17 Preview File:Game Of Thrones Season 2 The Story So Far (Episodes 11-16)|The Story So Far (Episodes 11-16) File:Game of Thrones Season 2 Recap 16|Episode 16 Recap File:Game Of Thrones Season 2 Inside The Episode 17|Inside The Episode 17

In the books

 * The entire Qarth subplot is an invention of the TV series. The Thirteen are not killed in the books, nor are the dragons stolen.
 * Jaime Lannister actually killed Torrhen Karstark during the Battle of the Whispering Wood. His death does indeed anger his father Rickard. This isn't an outright invention of the TV series but it is a condensation of longer plot threads in the books.
 * Jaime Lannister doesn't kill "Alton Lannister" (named Cleos Frey in the books; as he is the son of Tywin's sister, he doesn't use the Lannister name). Jaime is stated to have killed several guards "offscreen" during escape attempts, demonstrating his immense skill and dangerous status as a warrior: even shackled and weakened from imprisonment, he is a mortally dangerous opponent. This makes the Starks put him under even heavier guard and constant watch.