Episode 17 – A Man Without Honor – New Viewer Recap

The reactions to last night’s episode from non-book readers should be interesting. The recap from our own new viewer is up now. New viewers, feel free to use this thread to discuss the episode last night without fear of spoilers.

Spoiler note: The discussion in this post is primarily for non-book readers (book fans can discuss the show here). We ask all the series veterans to refrain from posting spoilers in the comments here, veiled or otherwise. This show is best viewed without knowing all the surprises beforehand, so please be respectful of your fellow fans. Thank you!

We Do Not Sow: No way… There is no way those two burnt corpses were Bran and Rickon. I am trying to convince myself that the two bodies Theon presented the townspeople of Winterfell are two children from that local farm… or there is a chance I am in denial, the first stage of grieving. I know that Martin, and the world of Westeros, hold no boundaries as far as who will be killed off; we learned that very early in season one. I am still refusing to believe that Bran and Rickon are dead. I do think Theon would stoop that low and I know they found the walnut shell, but wouldn’t Theon also show the villagers Hodor’s body too? I am holding steadfast to first gut instinct, that Theon took those bodies from the nearby farm and it is not the younger Stark boys. If I am wrong, I will be highly disappointed. I have been looking forward to Bran firing a bow and arrow on horseback or on Hodor’s back. One can only hope.

So the second shocking thing in the episode was Xaro, the king of Qarth, by mass execution. WOW. Who saw that coming? I mean, I guess if you are the richest man in the city you can buy enough people off to do whatever you want. Xaro proclaims himself the King of Qarth and has teamed up with Pyat Pree, the creepy multiple-man. I knew that guy Pyat Pree was up to no good; anyone who has a House of the Undying should never be trusted. It will be interesting, with two episodes left, if Dany, Xaro, Pyat Pree and Jorah can coexist and make a deal to get the dragons back and a ship to Westeros.

Two quick hits on Jon Snow and Sansa. Jon, how dumb can you be? Just kill the girl and be done with it. But nooo…. let her live, let her insult your virginity and then let her lead you right into a camp of other wildlings. Jon, you gotta be smarter out there, hopefully your brothers or maybe even Benjen can bail you out of this mess. I also just noticed Jon’s prisoner calling Jon and the rest of the Night’s Watch, crows. I really found that amusing and makes perfect sense… maybe the wildlings are smarter than I think. In King’s Landing, Sansa becomes a woman. I thought the actress has done a great job the last few episodes, fighting for her life from the riot and from Joffrey. It seems as everyone knows Joffrey is out of control and cannot be tamed, which means in my eyes it’s only a matter of time before Stannis or someone closer to Joffrey makes sure that Joffrey won’t be a problem anymore.

Over in Harrenhal, I think we can agree Arya has been found out by Tywin. He may not know she is a Stark yet, but he knows that she is lying about who she is. I really want her to get the heck outta there before it hits the fan and she is uncovered. Tywin is trying to find out who the assassin is and he mentions the Brotherhood again… hmmm the Brotherhood sounds intriguing!

We finally get to see Jaime again since being captured. I was pretty shocked by his actions against a distant relative, but at the same time, he might be a great solider and warrior but he is a man without honor. I thought he was actually going to escape from the camp but knowing how many men Robb has in his camp if he did get away, I would have thought it to be pretty cheesy. So I am glad in two different ways that he did not escape, but who knows if he will survive the next two episodes, if not the night.

New viewers, do you think Bran and Rickon are dead?

Book Readers, I envision you all reading the recap every week laughing at my wild guessing and conspiracy theories, thanks for the kind words from all of you reading the new viewers recap! (Is it too late to realign my house allegiance? How did I pick the house with only 3 people and they are all Bastards!)

• Published on 05/14/2012 at 1:02 PM CDT
• Last updated on 10/20/2016 at 6:29 PM CDT