'Game of Thrones' Season 5, Episode 2 - 'The House of Black and White' Recap

Braavos

We open with Arya, who finally arrives in Braavos and heads to the House of Black and White looking for Jaqen H'ghar. She's greeted at the door by an old man who claims there's "no one here by that name," and basically tells her to scram.

She sits outside and repeats what remains of her list (Cersei, Walder Frey, The Mountain, Meryn Trant) before giving up and tossing her coin into the water.

For a while, Arya gets by killing pigeons before the old man shows up again...and of course, the man is actually Jaqen H'ghar. Except he isn't Jaqen H'ghar, he's no one...and that's what Arya must become.

Outside the Eyrie

Poor Brienne is horribly close to a Stark girl yet again, as she and Podrick end up in the same Tavern as Sansa and Littlefinger. Unfortunately, when she approaches and states her case, she's crushed yet again as Baelish paints her in a bad light and Sansa refuses to go with her mostly on account of her bowing to Joffrey.

"Ready the horses," she tells Pod. "We only have one horse," he replies.

They're split up in the ensuing chase, wherein Brienne pretty much lays waste to half of Littlefinger's guard. Pod argues that if both Stark girls refused her service, then she's probably released from her vow.

King's Landing

Cersei receives a package from Dorne: a statue of a serpent with Marcella's necklace in its teeth. It's clearly a threat, but Jamie promises to go to Dorne to try to get Marcella back.

First, he stops off to get Bronn, whose betrothed has just been given away to someone else so that Bronn can accompany Jamie to Dorne. Jamie promises Bronn "a much better girl and a much better castle" upon their return, which is probably good since Bronn clearly didn't care much for this one (the girl, not the castle).

Back in the capitol, Cersei continues to step on toes as she attempts to appoint her uncle as commander of the armies and master of war. However, he finds Cersei's power grab and refusal to involve Tommen in official matters insulting, and storms out.

Dorne

Speaking of Dorne, the people there are pissed about Oberyn's death, and Ellaria is on their side. Oberyn's brother, however, doesn't want a war and certainly refuses to do anything to Marcella in retaliation.

Meereen

The Sons of the Harpy are the mysterious, masked men who murdered one of the Unsullied last week. Danaerys seeks counsel from her council, where a former slave argues for blood while the representative for the masters asks for a trial.

Ser Barristan reminds her of the Mad King, teaching her that the stories about him weren't lies and that his ruthlessness was ultimately his downfall.

It turns out that Dany doesn't have to do anything, because the former slave finds the Son of the Harpy in prison and murders him himself. Dany tells him that the law is the law, and has him publicly executed for the crime...sparking hissing and an immediate riot from the former slaves.

Dany's pretty much royally screwed things up, and not even Drogon, who returns to her briefly, seems to be happy with her.

On the Road to Meereen

Varys continues to preach his surprisingly socialist views to Tyrion. This scene serves a wonderful purpose, though, in providing a segue back to King's Landing: "How many dwarves are there in the world?" Tyrion asks. "Will Cersei kill all of them?" Cut to: a dwarf's head slammed down on a table. Talk about dark humor.

Castle Black

Stannis chides Jon Snow for his actions at Mance's execution, but his punishment isn't only lenient, it's nonexistent. Instead of punishment, Stannis offers to make Jon officially a Stark, making him Lord of Winterfell and hopefully uniting the Wildlings under him as an army.

Jon is considering refusing, but first is the election of the new leader of the Night's Watch. Alliser Thorne is the favorite to win, but Sam nominates Jon as well, even though he's distrusted as sympathetic to the Wildlings. The vote comes down to a tie, with the Grand Maester giving the deciding vote to Jon.