The third season of Game of Thrones was the best one yet, but paradoxically I've got very little to say about it here. I've read the books and I know what's coming next, and virtually everyone I know watches this show by now, so there's no need for me to gush and try to push it on everyone. The show resumes with Season 4 in a few weeks, and consensus thought suggests the sixth book should be out within a year. There are great times ahead for Game of Thrones fans, and while the third book remains the highlight to date for the written series, I'm hoping the show doesn't peak here with Season 3.
Since I've got nothing else to say, here's a quick refresher for everyone as we head into the fourth season, regarding where the major characters and conflicts are when Season 3 concludes. I promise to spoil nothing with my book foresight, but obviously this is where you should stop reading if you're not up to date on the show yet. For the rest of you, onward!
Bran Stark has just crossed north of the Wall on his way to find the three-eyed raven who has haunted his dreams. With him are Hodor and the Reed siblings. Bran is a warg, which means he can temporarily take control of animals. What awaits Bran beyond the wall, and will he find this three-eyed raven? Also, Ned's brother Benjen disappeared back in Season 1 during an exploration of the Far North. Will we see him again?
Rickon, the youngest Stark, is under the guardianship of the ex-wildling Osha. They're headed for the Last Hearth, a castle or fort in the North where he'll supposedly be safe. But with the Boltons now nominally controlling the North in the wake of the Red Wedding, what awaits Rickon when he gets there? Will he get there at all?
Jon Snow is back at the Wall for the first time in a long time, having spent the last season and a half galavanting around with wildlings as a double agent of sorts. He knows Mance Rayder is prepared to march on the Wall, and that the Night's Watch is in pretty rough shape with Lord Commander Jeor Mormont dead and all. What will Jon do - remain loyal to the Night's Watch, or reunite with his wildling lady, Ygritte? And either way, how will the battle turn out?
Samwell Tarly is also at the wall. He's protecting a wildling woman named Gilly and her baby boy. Sam has always been a coward and a failure, but he's now the only guy in the Night's Watch to have killed a white walker. In his last scene of Season 3, Sam sent ravens to every corner of Westeros asking every last lord for able-bodied men to help fend off the impedning wildling attack. What will Sam's role be, going forward in this battle?
Lord Stannis Baratheon is the only man - so far - to answer the Night's Watch's call for help. He's currently abandoning his fight for King's Landing and the throne in order to sail north for the Wall. His most trusted advisor, the red witch Melisandre, has foreseen that the War of the Five Kings is a meaningless fight, and that the true battle for Westeros will take place at the Wall. Ser Davos, the Onion Knight, agrees with her, for once.
Theon Greyjoy spent the entire season as a tortured captive of the sociopath Ramsay Snow, the bastard son of Roose Bolton, newly named warden of the North. He's lost a lot of skin, a finger or two, his donger, and finally, his spirit; Theon's new accepted identity is "Reek," a sniveling and pathetic nobody, rather than a prince. Surely he'll have more to do this upcoming season than just getting tortured a lot more, right?
Yara Greyjoy has assembled a crew of the finest fighters in the Iron Islands, and she's sailing to the North in order to find and rescue her baby brother. Touching! Of course, we've seen a lot of noble and ambitious goals fall very short with drastic results. How will this one go?
Littlefinger, whose full name is Petyr Baelish, was barely seen in Season 3; he's up in the Vale now, courting Lysa Arryn and attempting to lure the Vale into the war on the side of the Lannisters. Lysa's sister, Catelyn, was of course killed at the Red Wedding. Will this make her more apt to reject a Lannister alliance, or, with no living family members still fighting against them, will Lysa accept Littlefinger's terms?
Brynden Tully, the "Blackfish," escaped the massacre at the Red Wedding because just before it began he had left to take a piss. His nephew, Edmure, remains a captive of the Freys after marrying one of the Frey girls. His niece, Catelyn, is dead. The Riverlands have been given to the Freys by the Lannisters, much like the North was given to the Boltons, but Brynden has retreated back to Riverrun and still controls the castle. He is, at present, the last remaining living member of Robb Stark's rebellion. Will he continue to fight against the Lannisters, Boltons, and Freys? Or will he yield his castle, ending that particular theater of the war at last?
Arya Stark remains out in the open and on the run, but in the aftermath of the Red Wedding she's got no parents left and nowhere to call home. Worse, she's stuck as a captive, of sorts, of the Hound, the man she hates more than anyone else in Westeros - and she's cultivated quite a lengthy list of hated people. Where is she going? What does the Hound want with her? Will they become fast friends? Will one kill the other? Perhaps die, saving the other? And what about that Bravosi coin she got from that mysterious killer in Season 2?
Jaime Lannister is home at last! And home a changed man, at that, humbled by the loss of his sword hand and softened by his respect and admiration for Brienne. He's still in love with his sister, which is gross as hell, but now that the character has undergone a complete redemption arc, what should we expect from him and from the other Lannisters, going forward? And what about Brienne? Her quest was to find the Stark daughters and return them to Catelyn; Sansa is around, but married to Tyrion - surely the Lannisters won't just let her go, even in exchange for Jaime. Or will they? And Catelyn is dead now, anyway. Where would Brienne even take Sansa, at this point?
King Joffrey is about to marry Margaery Tyrell, thanks to the deal brokered by his grandfather in exchange for Tyrell assistance in the Battle of Blackwater Bay back in Season 2. She's kind, cunning, and patient. Will her influence change Joffrey into a better man? Will his impatience and twistedness spell danger for Margaery? Are the Tyrells slowly gaining too much power in King's Landing for the Lannisters' good? Will this wedding even be half as memorable as the infamous Red Wedding?
Gendry the bastard was last seen leaving Dragonstone in a little rowboat. He's heading for King's Landing. What awaits him there?
Janos Slynt hasn't been seen since early in Season 2, when Tyrion banished him from the small council. I only bring him up because he betrayed Ned Stark, and Tyrion sent him to the Wall. Could he add a new wrinkle to an already complex situation there? Or has the show forgotten about him entirely? Seriously, he hasn't been seen in seventeen episodes. Maybe he's just not coming back.
House Martell of Dorne hasn't done anything yet through three seasons of the show. But that's where Tyrion sent Princess Myrcella back in Season 2. They'll show up soon, right?
Daenerys Targaryen, lastly, remains across the sea in Essos, where she continues to amass quite an army and quite a legacy. Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains, she's already sacked and liberated two of the three cities on Slaver's Bay. Next comes Mereen. Will she continue to storm through Essos without any worthy opponents, or will someone eventually prove enough of a challenge to her to slow down her inevitable march toward Westeros.
Ser Jorah Mormont has been Dany's main man since back when she was a slave bride to Khal Drogo. He used to be her one and only advisor and protector. But now she's got dragons, a few other guards, and an army of thousands. Worse, she's making eyes at Daario Naharis. Can Jorah get over his jealousy and continue to serve his queen faithfully?
I think that about covers it. What a diverse array of goings-on!
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