Game of Thrones Recap: Guess Who Finally Came Back!

That was a lot!

While nothing was as heartbreaking or as revelatory as last week’s situation with Hodor, tonight’s Game of Thrones still gave us a lot to think about, a lot to fear, and a few things to cheer like crazy for.

First of all, Benjen Stark has finally returned! Five seasons after he left Castle Black, he showed up (on a horse, wielding fire) just in time to save Meera and Bran from white walker doom, and promised to help Bran develop his abilities as the new three-eyed raven.

Speaking of which, we got nothing concrete today (like, for instance, the condition of Lyanna in the tower), but we did get a quick glimpse at Aerys Targaryen, the mad king, as he shouted “burn them all!” as Bran’s visions went kind of crazy.

We were also reintroduced to a few faces we haven’t seen in a while, including one we would have preferred to never see again. The evil Walder Frey has returned, and he’s just as crotchety (and Filgus Filch-y) as always. This time, he wants Riverrun back, after Brynden Tully recently stole it away from him, so he’s planning on sending his prisoner, Edmure Tully (oh hello, Outlander’s Black Jack Randall) off with his army to help take it back.

He’ll also have help in the form of Jaime Lannister, who has essentially been banished from King’s Landing by his own son for trying to rescue the queen. Say what, you ask?

The High Sparrow has finally succeeded in brainwashing not only Margaery, but also Tommen, who has now declared that the crown and the faith are intricately linked. Therefore, when Jaime arrives with Lady Tyrell to try and prevent Margaery’s walk of atonement by rescuing her and Loras, he is committing a crime against both the faith and the crown.

However, instead of throwing him in a cell or forcing him to walk through the streets with no clothes on, Tommen decides that Jaime will continue to serve the crown by joining Walder Frey’s army against Brynden “Blackfish” Tully at Riverrun…which is also where Brienne is headed. So could we be in for a Brienne/Jaime reunion? Do we want to be? We are really unsure.

Sam and Gilly, meanwhile, made it back to Sam’s home, and they were welcomed warmly by Sam’s mother and sister, at least. They were both happy to see Sam, his totally-not-a-wildling girlfriend Gilly, and their definitely-not-the-product-of-a-wildling-rapist-and-his-daughter son Sam. Sam’s sister even gave Gilly a lovely dress, and it was all very nice, until they sat down for dinner with Sam’s father.

Sam’s father is, to put it nicely, an asshat. He’s not pleased at all to see his son back from the wall with no evidence whatsoever of having been turned into the manly man he wanted him to become. Then, in the midst of trying to defend Sam, Gilly accidentally revealed her true wildling origins, and everything went to hell.

While Sam’s mother still tried to defend him, Sam’s dad was done. He banished Sam, telling him he had to leave first thing in the morning, and he was never allowed to return, and he would definitely never get the family’s fancy sword that all firstborn sons are supposed to get. So, Sam took Gilly, the baby, and that fancy sword and left his stupid father behind.

Elsewhere, Arya watched the play some more. This time, she laughed at Joffrey’s death, and found herself moved by Cersei’s speech about her love for her son. During the curtain call, she crept backstage to poison the actress’ drink, but the woman caught her on her way out.

Arya encouraged her to change the play to her liking, and have Cersei attempt to kill her son’s murderer, but as she listened to the rest of the company explain that actresses don’t get to have an opinion, she returned and smashed the poisoned bottle.

Jaqen’s creepy helper girl witnessed this all go down, and went back to report to him that Arya did not fulfill her duty. He gave the girl permission to kill Arya, as long as she didn’t let her suffer. Meanwhile, Arya was retrieving her sword, knowing what was coming.

Finally, Daenerys led the Dothraki men on horseback, discussing with Daario just how many men she would need in order to take the throne. Daario suggested that she’s not the kind of person who would just sit on a throne, because she’s more of a conqueror. Dany then got distracted by some dust, and disappeared around a bend.

Just when Daario was going to look for her, she reappeared on the back of a dragon and brought it down in front of her little army. In Dothraki, she asked for their help in taking the seven kingdoms, and they all agreed, because who wouldn’t agree with the woman riding the dragon?

So while that was no temple on fire, that was yet another epic Khaleesi ending to yet another episode that’s making us think this show is a lot more fun without the safety of the books to fall back on. Now, if we could get on with Bran’s visions, that would be great, thanks!

Game of Thrones airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.