First Five Episode Titles and Details

[Westeros]

Straight from HBO come a press release touting the second season, and providing title, credits, and summary information for the first half of the season. We already have all the titles, but now we see the first of the two episodes Vanessa Taylor has written—episode 4, “Garden of Bones”—and learn a bit more about the breakdown of episodes.

There are some mild spoilers, which I’ll be following up a little bit with commentary between episode summaries.read on >>>

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[The Winged Wolf Bran Stark]

A bit off-topic, but when will a forum be put up for Season 2 episodes anyway?

Also, I figured Dany would reach Qarth earlier than Episode 4 to be honest. I'm guessing she won't appear a ton in the first 3 episodes. But that's just me.

[Aegnor]

Arya saved Jaqen H’ghar from...Gold Cloaks? Huh?

[Darth Pipes]

A bit off-topic, but when will a forum be put up for Season 2 episodes anyway?

Also, I figured Dany would reach Qarth earlier than Episode 4 to be honest. I'm guessing she won't appear a ton in the first 3 episodes. But that's just me.

I would guess that there isn't much with Dany in the three episodes as well. Although Robb's victories are referenced, there doesn't appear like there's a lot of him in the early going either.

But I like what I'm reading so far.

[KhalAllen]

I would guess that there isn't much with Dany in the three episodes as well. Although Robb's victories are referenced, there doesn't appear like there's a lot of him in the early going either.

But I like what I'm reading so far.

There are far too many new characters and plots to have a lot of Dany. I'm wondering if they will skip her time at that castle before Qarth. Didn't the convoy come to meet her there?

I think there will be PLENTY of Robb/Jeyne much earlier than we expect

[Dragon greyscale]

To be honest, these descriptions seems like they're staying pretty close to the books. More than I'd anticipated, actually. At this pace I can't see them moving the stealing of the Unsullied to season 2 (or any other comparable major event). And Bran's storyline is also suspiciously absent in the first five episodes....

These snippets are probably not very representative though. We'll just have to wait and see.

[boojam]

To be honest, these descriptions seems like they're staying pretty close to the books. More than I'd anticipated, actually. At this pace I can't see them moving the stealing of the Unsullied to season 2 (or any other comparable major event). And Bran's storyline is also suspiciously absent in the first five episodes....

These snippets are probably not very representative though. We'll just have to wait and see.

Yeah expecting Arya to have one or more parts , all episodes.

[Darth Pipes]

To be honest, these descriptions seems like they're staying pretty close to the books. More than I'd anticipated, actually. At this pace I can't see them moving the stealing of the Unsullied to season 2 (or any other comparable major event). And Bran's storyline is also suspiciously absent in the first five episodes....

These snippets are probably not very representative though. We'll just have to wait and see.

Bran is mentioned in the first and third episodes although I think his storyline will be bigger in the second half.

[Padraig]

At this pace I can't see them moving the stealing of the Unsullied to season 2 (or any other comparable major event). And Bran's storyline is also suspiciously absent in the first five episodes..

I did think they weren't going to move huge events into S2. Some tweaks like they did with the end of S1 seemed more likely.

You can get an idea of the timeline of Bran's story by using Theon's. In E5 he arrives back in the North. One can guess that at the end of that episode he hatches his plot against Winterfell. So we can expect to see that in E6. Admittedly, there is not a huge amount of time left for all of Theon's arc, so maybe people will be right about some of that ending up in S3 after all. But they could increase the pace if they wish.

Arya saved Jaqen H’ghar from...Gold Cloaks? Huh?

There is a logic to that.

Rather that have Arya encounter the Gold Cloaks, Amory Lorch and the Mountain, cut it down to two groups. No real loss.

[Vikingkingq]

I did think they weren't going to move huge events into S2. Some tweaks like they did with the end of S1 seemed more likely.

You can get an idea of the timeline of Bran's story by using Theon's. In E5 he arrives back in the North. One can guess that at the end of that episode he hatches his plot against Winterfell. So we can expect to see that in E6. Admittedly, there is not a huge amount of time left for all of Theon's arc, so maybe people will be right about some of that ending up in S3 after all. But they could increase the pace if they wish.

There is a logic to that.

Rather that have Arya encounter the Gold Cloaks, Amory Lorch and the Mountain, cut it down to two groups. No real loss.

I think that's how we're going forward from this point on; keeping the same overall narrative arcs, but relentlessly economizing with potentially duplicative characters/plots. For example:

• I think Amory Lorch could well merge with Vargo Hoat, in that they're both two sadistic commanders in Harrenhall.
  
• I think Essos fatigue could be combatted by combining Yunkai, Astapor, and Mereen in Season 3 so that the arc is "Dany builds her army," and then speeding up the Mereen plotline to include the "Battle of Fire" in Season 4 so that the arc is "Dany learns to rule, leaves for Westeros."
  
• They've likely eliminated the second shadowbaby, and brought up Littlefinger to the same time as Catelyn, so that the Renly storyline can be dealt with in a more efficient manner.
  

[TheEvilKing]

Looks like this season will be moving at a much faster pace than the books. My own draft summary I did for nerdy fun is totally incorrect it seems.

In my season outline I had Renly's death at the end of ep 6. The above summaries imply it will be ep 4.

I also had Theon arriving at the Iron Islands in ep 3, but it's going to be in ep 2.

Cat arrives in the Stormlands in ep 3, I had ep 5.

Given the brisk pacing and the fact that many characters are so looking forward to ep 9 "Blackwater" and have quoted it as their favourite episode, with Alfie Allen talking about "lots of death", I think many of the book's climatic scenes will take place in episode 9 with a fair bit of stuff from early ASOS brought into ep 10.

In particular, the attack on the Fist of First Men, Ser Davos's rescue at sea, Jaime & co's escape from Riverrun

[Rhodan]

So... It looks like Reeds are replaced by Luwin. His Valyrian steel link might not be so pointless in the series after all.

[HenrikLannister]

According to my iPhone app TV Forecast, the title of the sixth episode is "The Old Gods And The New." They had the first two episode titles on their app for a few weeks before it was released, so I'm inclined to believe that this is true.

[opark77]

According to my iPhone app TV Forecast, the title of the sixth episode is "The Old Gods And The New." They had the first two episode titles on their app for a few weeks before it was released, so I'm inclined to believe that this is true.

Showtime Australia released the same title for episode six and we ran with it at gameofthrones.wikia.com. Nice to see other sources saying the same.

[Arkash]

I agree, it's like those scenes of Stannis and Melisandre, those seemingly hot scenes, so wrong ! It is not Stannis.

Yes, Stannis probably dit it with her but now showing it and undersaying it was much more better and fascinating !

[Pliskin]

I agree, it's like those scenes of Stannis and Melisandre, those seemingly hot scenes, so wrong ! It is not Stannis.

Well, there, however, I don't agree :D

I want hot scenes with Carice Van Houten, no matter the price.

[The hairy bear]

Interesting! Again it seems that they are in line, more or less with the pace of the books. They will finish the fifth episode around chapter 38, out of the total 70 chapters of ACOK.

More or less, the chapters clearly included in some episode are:

Arya I and Jon I were done in season 1

1 - The North Remembers: The Prologue, Sansa I, Tyrion I, Bran I, Catelyn I, Davos I

2 - The Night Lands: Arya II, Tyrion II, Theon I, Dany I, Tyrion III, Jon II

3 - What Is Dead May Never Die: Tyrion IV, Catelyn II, Theon II, Bran IV

4 - Garden of Bones: Arya VI, Daenerys II, Tyrion VII, Sansa III, Catelyn IV and a modified Davos II.

5 - The Ghost of Harrenhal: Arya 7, Jon IV, Tyrion VIII, Theon III

undersaying it was much more better and fascinating !

I agree, although having seen season 1 I've come to assume that they won't lose any opportunity to include a sex scene if the plot somehow allows for it (and some times, even when it doesn't). I admire the overall work D&D have done with the adaptation, but this aspect is ill treated IMO.

[Arrogant Bastard]

Pacing looks just about right. I was expecting things to be moving faster, but it's pretty much in line with the book.

Looks like Craster is introduced in episode 1, which seems a bit early, but they already took care of Jon's first chapter of ACOK in the season one finale. Cersei's bloody purge mentioned in episode 2 probably refers to the death of Barra; glad they're keeping that in. Also glad that Dany doesn't arrive in Qarth until episode 4; looks like the first half of the season her story is downplayed, which is good in my opinion. Also, the "tyrion coereces a queen's man to be his eyes and ears" is probably a reference to his humiliation of Lancel, a scene that has to be in the show just because it's so funny/awesome. No real mention of Robb, so they're probably holding the meat of his story for later, which I prefer; hopefully all the romance stuff only takes up a small part of an episode or two.

I agree, although having seen season 1 I've come to assume that they won't lose any opportunity to include a sex scene if the plot somehow allows for it (and some times, even when it doesn't).

Yeah, that was probably my biggest gripe in season one, and judging from the trailers for season two I think it will still be somewhat irksome, though hopefully they learned how to do these scenes better. I admit, I'm slightly concerned with the shot of Ros with Joffrey from one of the trailers.

My guess is that they're expanding on Tyrion's thoughts of bringing Joffrey to a brothel, which he never actually does in ACOK. To me, it seems odd that they'd use that one thought of Tyrion's to actually have a scene with Joffrey and, of course, Ros, considering it was only like one paragraph in teh book and there's so much other stuff. But it could also be Ros taking the place of Alayaya, and Joffrey is present when Cersei reveals to Tyrion that she "has his little whore". That would be preferable, mainly because I don't see the point of having a Joffrey Ros one on one scene; everybody already knows Joffrey is an evil little shit. I was also hoping they'd skip the Theon with the Captain's daughter scene, because they already had practically teh same scene in season one with him and Ros, but apparently she's been cast. Still, as long as the sex scenes are done well I don't care; it's when they're just thrown in there like in season one it bothers me a bit.

[Umberto]

Wow, so Luwin will be taking place of the Reeds. But he isn't a greenseer...how will it work?

How will Bran decide to go north? Someone tell me their opinions on this new info please!

[joey29]

I loved what the hairy bear did in his post, predicting which chapters will be included in the first five episodes. However, considering the summaries of each episode, I have a slightly altered list.

(Jon I and Arya I were in season one).

The North Remembers- The Prologue, Sansa I, Tyrion I, Bran I, Arya II, Jon II, Jon III, Catelyn I, Daenerys I

The Night Lands- Davos I, Theon I, Arya III, Arya IV, Arya V, Tyrion II, Sansa II,

What is Dead May Never Die- Tyrion III, Tyrion IV, Bran II, Bran III, Catelyn II, Theon II, Lots of new Renly + Tyrell's stuff

Garden of Bones- Arya VI, Tyrion VI, Daenerys II, Bran IV, Catelyn III, Sansa III, 1/2 Catelyn IV, Davos II (modified)

The Ghost of Harrenhal- Tyrion V, Arya VII, 1/2 Catelyn IV, Jon IV, Bran V, Tyrion VII, Tyrion VIII, Theon III,

That's roughly half of the book, and it's based on the summaries provided for the first five episodes.

What we can assume:

*Not as much Arya in the second half of the season unless they take some of her SoS chapters.. and they might considering she has tons.

*Jon, Robb, and Dany might be noticeably absent for most of the first half.

*There will be lots of new stuff at Renly's camp during the third episode. This is evident in the summary, as well as many trailers and clips we've seen thus far.