For those murmuring about the tedious pace of the third season of "Game of Thrones," the latest episode finally brought the action to the forefront. From Daenerys making a bold move to the Night's Watch getting pushed to the brink of collapse, "And Now His Watch Has Ended" swiftly pushed several storylines toward their conclusion, though it wouldn't be "Game of Thrones" without several other storylines springing up in their place. Now approaching the halfway mark of the third season, "Game of Thrones" once again is starting to assemble a few pieces that should lead to a very fiery conclusion.
Going against the grain of popular fantasy, one thing we continue to see is unexpected characters placed in the foreground, which once again played a major role in the most recent episode. With Jaime Lannister bottoming out after losing his sword hand last episode, we see just how far he's fallen on his way back to King's Landing. Formerly the brash and boastful knight who considered himself one of the best fighters in Westeros, these days Jaime can't even sit on his horse for very long without falling face first into the muck. But while another series may send a knight in shining armor to bring Jaime back from the brink, "Game of Thrones" uses Brienne of Tarth - the most unlikely knight of them all. Will a humbled Jaime find it in himself to take Brienne's advice and not give up? For the Kingslayer, anything positive seems a long, long ways away.
But we also see that Westeros is a place where patience is rewarded. Varys, another of scribe George R.R. Martin's unusual main characters, received a little more screen time this episode, and we're given a first-hand look at why he's such a powerful and dangerous man. In his brewing rivalry with Littlefinger, Varys attempts to throw a wrench in Littlefinger's schemes before they can start bearing fruit. In one of the best scenes of the fourth episode, Varys teams with the equally clever mind of the Queen of Thorns, the Tyrell's sharp-witted grandmother who seems to have plenty up her sleeve.
Meanwhile, her granddaughter Margaery seems to be having some success on her impossible mission: to change Joffrey from an unmanageable monster to a slightly more manageable monster. Joffrey isn't exactly going to give up his love of sadism any time soon, but Margaery teaches him that waving your hand to the crowd is sometimes all you need to rouse the masses to your side. More importantly, we also see that Cersei has a rival in Margaery that she may not be able to do anything about, as Margaery has stolen Joffrey's love and has begun to control him in ways that Cersei never could.
As Cersei continues to lose control of Joffrey and King's Landing, Night's Watch Commander Mormont is having the same issue with his men, who are starving as they camp out near Craster's Keep north of the Wall. Though many of the men are willing to stay the course, many are angered that the insidious Craster is holding back on them and starving them out on purpose. With the tension beginning to boil over, we end up with one of the ugliest examples of what can happen when desperate men with swords have had enough, which ends up dissolving the remaining forces under Mormont and sending Sam Tarly fleeing with a woman and newborn. For someone who hasn't made a bold move in his life, Sam seems to have bitten off quite a bit more than he can chew.
The same can't be said of Daenerys Targaryen, who has made it pretty clear that she bows down to no one as she continues to negotiate for the services of 8,000 expertly trained eunuch soldiers. In the most intense moments of the season so far, Daenerys announces loud and clear that she's no longer a beggar queen who lacks any real power, bringing episode four to a shocking conclusion along the lines of Ned Stark losing his head near the end of season one. With thousands of elite soldiers and a few dragons now at her back, Daenerys is clearly on the rise after all her trouble getting her act together in season two.
If there is a challenge that the producers continue to have, though, it's keeping up with all the different storylines. This week, we only briefly get a chance to check-in with Bran, whose story likely seems a bit disjointed and maybe even out of place to anyone who hasn't read the books. Arya also gets to meet the leader of the Brotherhood Without Banners, Beric Dondarrion, and accuse The Hound of killing her friend, setting up a duel between two of the best swordsmen in the realm. We also get only a glimpse of how far Theon has fallen as we get a full introduction to a shadowy new character (Ramsay Snow), who might just make Joffrey look like a choir boy by the time this season is over.
Best moment of "And Now His Watch Has Ended" (Spoiler alert):
When Daenerys takes control of her soldiers, promptly slays all the previous masters and frees the city of Astapor, we finally see the type of power that could one day make a run at taking back Westeros.
Things to look forward to in the coming weeks:
The Hound battles it out with the fire sword of Beric Dondarrion; the schemes of Varys and Littlefinger come to fruition; and Jon Snow has his loyalty tested as he marches toward the Wall with the wildlings.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.