When the mountain clans of the Vale try to mount a second attack, Tyrion dishes out another serving of Guile Hero cunning. Tyrion is about as empty-handed as Catelyn as he wanders the east road, with only his wits and Bronn for company, but they serve him well. But Lysa is having none of it, preferring to keep her knights close and protect her son, and Catelyn leaves the Eyrie empty-handed. Catelyn, for her part, is frothing with anxiety when she gets the news and asks Lysa to lend her some swords. Obviously, Robb doesn't take kindly to the situation he calls his banners to Winterfell, declaring that if he goes to King's Landing, it will be with an army at his back.

(Cersei produces a wonderfully uncomfortable grimace at these words.) Littlefinger suggests that Sansa be allowed to demonstrate her loyalty, and Sansa obediently pens a letter to her family-her handwriting, but the queen's words. She pleads for mercy for her father and promises to be a good queen, just like Cersei. Sansa is being interviewed by the queen, Grand Maester Pycelle, Varys and Littlefinger. As Jon storms away in anxiety, Mormont warns him not to do anything stupid. Mormont tries to assure him that he's sure his sisters will be treated gently. He gives the news to Jon and Jon becomes sick with worry over his father and sisters. It's the news of Robert's passing and Lord Eddard's arrest and accusations of treason. (He also stutters his way through the entire conversation, adding to both sides of his Badass Bookworm label.) Jon and another Watchman urge Mormont to burn the bodies, but the Old Bear insists on having Maester Aemon examine them and praises Sam's astuteness before retiring to his solar to receive a letter. (In the book, Sam goes on to point out that there is no evidence of spilled blood despite their gaping wounds. In fact, their circumstances are completely queer: as Sam points out, though both are dead, they aren't rotting. Othor and Jafer Flowers were rangers, last seen in the company of Benjen Stark, but there's no sign of what happened to them. Up at the Wall, the Night's Watch have succeeded in tracking down the corpses associated with the hand Ghost found at the end of the previous episode. Varys answers only, ' The realm, my lord. Ned, in desperation, asks who Varys serves. Even worse, Ned's life is no longer a guarantor of Tyrion's safety, because news has reached Cersei that Tyrion has walked free. It is this warning, Varys claims, which led Cersei to arrange for Robert's Hunting 'Accident'. His only visitor is Varys, and he is not much comfort, berating Ned for giving Cersei advance warning of his plans. Ned Stark, the center of this storm of swords, is in the black cells beneath the Red Keep. A stableboy tries to apprehend her, but her very first swordplay lesson with Jon Snow serves her well: she sticks him with the pointy end and then escapes into the city at large while he dies on the floor. Arya flees to the yard, where she retrieves Needle from her upended chest amongst the corpses of her family servants. Syrio Forel shows why he was for nine years the First Sword of Braavos, fighting an inspired Multi-Mook Melee and winning, but when Ser Meryn gets involved it's a Knight in Shining Armor against a wooden sword, which is a very different story.

Arya's dancing lesson is interrupted by more red-cloaked Lannister guardsmen, accompanied by Ser Meryn Trant of the Kingsguard. It's for naught: Sansa is intercepted by The Hound, dispatched by the queen to take her in. Septa Mordane tells Sansa to bar herself in her room before confronting Lannister guardsmen, their swords already dripping red. In King's Landing, Stark household servants are butchered as they attempt to load Sansa's and Arya's chests onto the wayns.

Feud between selmy and be ioff