History Recap / GameOfThronesS2E10ValarMorghulis

** There's a DeletedScene of her strangling Irri. The scene was clearly deleted to keep her betrayal secret until the last episode, though it also doesn't help that it's full of {{Narm}} thanks to the insistence that Doreah must do ''everything'' "sexily."

* AdaptationalExplanation: Pyat Pree states that magic is more powerful in the presence of dragons. In the books, this is strongly implied by various references made by magic users following the birth of Dany's dragons to their spells have recently become more effective, but not yet stated directly.

Arya, Hot Pie and Gendry trudge through '''the Riverlands''' with [[labelnote:no set destination]]In the books they're making for Riverrun, but nothing's been said on TV[[/labelnote]], but are startled to see Jaqen H'ghar surveilling them from atop a rock outcropping. Arya wants to know how he killed the guards, and if it was difficult. "No harder than taking a new name, if you know the way," he answers. If Arya wants, she can go to Braavos with him, and learn to be a "Faceless Man." It's clearly tempting to her, but Arya decides she needs to stay and link up with her brother and mother. "[[AndZoidberg ...And my sister. I need to find her too.]]" So instead, Jaqen gives her an iron coin. "If the day comes when you must find me again, just give that coin to any man from Braavos and say these words to him: ''Valar morghulis.''" He turns away and does something to his face, and when he turns back the white skunk stripe in his hair is gone, his cheeks are different, his jawline heavier, his eyes more deeply sunken. He has a different face. Is that what they mean by "Faceless Men"?

* AsYouKnow: Theon [[LampshadeHanging Lampshades]] the hell out of it.

** Also, Xaro's legendary (and empty) vault proves what Varys told Tyrion; "Power resides where men ''believe'' it resides. It's a trick."

** Edd, Grenn and Sam are scavenging in the snow, bantering and teasing each other, when [[OhCrap three blasts ring out.]]

* SerialEscalation: The way we are left with how bad it's gotten worse: House Lannister is strengthened by its alliance with House Tyrell; Robb and Talisa marry in secret, costing him his alliance with House Frey; Bran, Rickon, Osha, and Hodor have to trek all the way to the Wall for salvation after [[MercyKill mercy killing]] Luwin; Sansa now depends on Littlefinger for survival in the court; Jaqen has left Arya and her group; Dany believes its time to return to Westeros now that her dragons are already breathing fire; Tywin is appointed Hand of the King and has dismissed Bronn and the Hill Tribesmen, leaving Tyrion completely without any means of defending himself from Cersei, who already tried to assassinate him; Brienne kills some House Stark soldiers to ensure Jaime is escorted to the Lannisters; Jon is forced to kill Qhorin to solidify his [[FakeDefector fake defection]]; so by the time we check in with the Night's Watch at the Fist of the First Men, you're left wondering, how can things possibly can get any worse? Turns out Sam gets left behind when the White Walkers finally decide to make their presence known to the Night's Watch. [[ZombieApocalypse And they brought friends.]]

Meanwhile, down in the throne room, Joffrey delivers three lies for the price of one when he styles himself as ''Joffrey of House "Baratheon", First of his Name, "rightful" king of the Andals and the First [[TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and "Protector" of the Realm]]'', after which he confirms his one and only grandfather as Hand and proclaims him a {{Big Damn Hero|es}}. (Tywin accepts this honor on horseback, presumably to show off his power.) Petyr Baelish is granted Harrenhal (promised him by Tyrion, but actually granted by Joffrey) for brokering the Lannister–Tyrell alliance, and Loras Tyrell is granted a single boon, which he uses to recommend that Joffrey wed Margaery. Margaery is wearing a new AbsoluteCleavage dress again. Joffrey plays his gallantness card and -- in an obvious show of BadBadActing for the court -- points out he is already betrothed, and [[HonorBeforeReason a king should keep his word]], but his small council rescues him: he was affianced to Sansa before her family revealed themselves to be traitors, and the gods will not hold it against him if he sets her aside. Sansa's off the hook. She manages to keep her depressed expression on until she's escaped the crowd.

* AbsoluteCleavage: Margaery's new dress.

* LoveMakesYouStupid: Robb Stark

* MoralEventHorizon: In universe, Theon believes he has already crossed it.

* Edd, Grenn and Sam are scavenging in the snow, bantering and teasing each other, when [[OhCrap three blasts ring out.]]

Arya, Hot Pie and Gendry trudge through '''the Riverlands''' with [[labelnote:no set destination]]In the books they're making for Riverrun, but nothing's been said on TV[[/labelnote]], but are startled to see Jaqen H'ghar surveilling them from atop a rock outcropping. Arya wants to know how he killed the guards, and if it was difficult. "No harder than taking a new name, if you know the way," he answers. If Arya wants, she can go to Braavos with him, and learn to be a "Faceless Man." It's clearly tempting to her, but Arya decides she needs to stay and link up with her brother and mother. "[[AndZoidberg ...And my sister. I need to find her too.]]" So instead, Jaqen gives her an iron coin. "If the day comes when you must find me again, just give that coin to any man from Braavos and say these words to him: ''Valar morghulis.''" He turns away and does something to his face, and when he turns back the white SkunkStripe in his hair is gone, his cheeks are different, his jawline heavier, his eyes more deeply sunken. He has a different face. Is that what they mean by "Faceless Men"?

* RealityEnsues:
** While Tywin waits atop his white destrier to enter the Iron Throne room to be proclaimed Savior of the City and officially take his place as Hand of the King, the warhorse drops a gigantic turd on the floor.
** Sansa's moment of joy as she thinks that she's finally free from Joffrey's violence and imminent rape is shattered by Littlefinger, who points out that her situation has actually gotten worse.
** Once she realizes that Xaro's supposed vault of riches is actually empty, Dany decides to buy a ship by scavenging as much of Xaro's property as possible. In real life, this would probably lead to a crossover episode with ''Series/PawnStars''.

* NotSoDifferent: The women hanged (and in one case, heavily implied to be raped) by Northern soldiers for "lying with lions."

* FamousLastWords: The Halfhand after being ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice.
-->'''Qhorin:''' [[BadassCreed We are the Watchers on the Wall...]]

* AdaptationDistillation: A lot of storylines are cropped. Specifically, Daenerys' visit to the House of the Undying plays out differently, with a whole range of delirious visions full of possible futures and pasts, doubtlessly many a RedHerring and some genuine {{Foreshadowing}}.

But where Martin ended the book, we still have a good 20 minutes of show remaining. How's Daenerys doing? Well, at the moment, she's wandering the halls of '''the House of the Undying''', trying to track her dragons' anguished cries. They lead her through a door to a ruined hall, one she has never seen before but which audiences are eminently familiar with, one with seven-pointed-star stained-glass windows and great braziers built around the pillars. The roof has fallen in and snow covers the ground, as well as the hulking behemoth of a chair at the far end, a chair that seems to be made of swords... Dany is about to touch it when her dragons' cries call her away from the Iron Throne of Westeros. They lead her out a door set in a wall of ice, a thousand leagues long and seven hundred feet high, and then into a tent built of hides for desert work, incongruous in the midst of all this snow. Within sits someone none of us never expected to see again: [[TheCameo Khal Drogo]], cradling a plump and adorable baby Rhaego in his arms. Daenerys quite clearly wants this dream to be true, but she hears [[TheConstant her dragons' call]] and knows what she has to do. ([[CutenessProximity Rhaego was trying to stuff his mommy's hand into his mouth.]])

At his '''Qartheen''' mansion Xaro Xhoan Daxos is asleep with his brand-new bedwarmer -- Doreah. Kovarro snatches the amulet from his neck and, with Daxos and Doreah unwilling spectators, opens Daxos's Valyrian vault. There is -- surprise surprise -- absolutely nothing inside of it. At least, until Daenerys [[CruelAndUnusualDeath uses it to imprison Xaro and Doreah for all time]]. She then gives the order to loot Xaro's house, hoping the proceeds will buy them passage to their next stop. Ser Jorah supervises the effort while Daenerys dotes on her dragons. [[CutenessProximity Drogon actually nuzzles her.]]

* PetTheDog: Varys takes a moment to tell Tyrion that while the king will never acknowledge it the people of king's landing will never forget that he saves them.