Pinks Mag 003

Shae has been canoodling with Tyrion?s father Tywin. Tyrion shoots his
dad on the latrine and, aided by Master of Whispers Varys, flees
Westeros.
Also quitting the Western continent is Arya. She witnesses an apparent
fight to the death between Sandor and Brienne (who, having failed
Catelyn, has sworn to protect any Stark crossing her path). Exhibiting
uncharacteristic cruelty, Arya leaves Sandor to his fate and crosses the
Narrow Sea to study with Jaqan H'ghar's Faceless Men.
SEASON FIVE: THE NIGHT'S KING SHOWS HIS HAND
by Cersei's champion, they fear Myrcella is in imminent danger from the
Martell family. She is safely retrieved ? but poisoned as they set off for
home.
Up north, the terrifying extent of the threat posed by the Walkers is
revealed as the Night's King attacks Jon Snow and his men at a Wildling
encampment. Alas, his warnings are not heeded back at the Wall where
senior members of the Watch kill Snow as revenge for his traitorous
alliance with the Free Folk.
In Essos Daenerys's hold on the city of Meereen slips when the Sons of
the Harpy stage an ambush at a grand gladiatorial bout. She is rescued
by her dragon Drogon and swept away to destination unknown. Her new
adviser Tyrion ? smuggled across the narrow sea to Essos by Varys ? will
rule in her stead as Ser Jorah and her lover Daario set off on her trail ( Ser
Jorah is utterly smitten with Daenerys, of course).
SEASON SIX: THE BASTARD'S BATTLE
With Joffrey dead, Margaery marries his younger brother Tommen - to
the disgust of Cersei , who has developed an enthusiastic loathing for her
daughter-in-law.
Never one to tread softly, Stannis burns the King Beyond the Wall at the
stake ? punishment for refusing to swear fealty. Meanwhile Jon Snow is
elected leader of the Night's Watch ? to the visible disapproval of the
senior members of the order. Sansa and Littlefinger leave The Vale ? but
where are they bound? That would be a surprise, intimates Littlefinger.
Actually it is a surprise. He intends marrying Sansa off to horrible Ramsay
Bolton ( Iwan Rheon), thus restoring a Stark to Winterfell (albeit by the
back door). In her former family home, Sansa is horrified to find Theon ?
now the broken and half insane plaything of Ramsay (his mystery
torturer). She is brutally abused on her wedding night by the sadistic
younger Bolton ? with Theon (re-named Reek by Ramsay) forced to
watch.
Stannis marches south towards Winterfell. With Winter coming, heavy
snow threatens his war against Ramsay. He is urged by Melisandre to
sacrifice daughter Shireen to the Lord of Light. Stannis reluctantly
complies and the weather indeed turns. Alas his troops, not wishing to
fight for a religious maniac, desert and he is easily defeated by the
Boltons. In the aftermath of the battle he is discovered by Brienne ? who
fulfils her vow to avenge Renly's death by cutting down the man
instrumental in his killing.
In Essos, Arya is accepted into the mysterious House of Black and White?
though proves slow to subsume her identity into the collective of the
Faceless Men. That she has much to learn before becoming ?no one? is
confirmed as she catches sight of Ser Meryn Trant, the sadistic knight of
the Kingsguard and, assuming the likeness of a child prostitute, strikes
him down. As punishment for betraying her vows she is struck blind.
At King's Landing, Cersei neutralises Margaery ? who has her wily claws in
the naive Tommen ? by striking an alliance with the leader of the
Sparrows, an evangelical cult growing in popularity. Everything appears to
be going as planned as Margaery's beloved brother Loras is thrown into a
deep dark room for sleeping with men and his sister is imprisoned for
lying on his behalf.
Alas, Cersei's clever scheme is revealed to be rather dimwitted as
whisperings of her relationship with Jaime reach the High Sparrow
(Jonathan Pryce). She too is dragged away by the religious police and
later required to undertake a naked Walk of Shame.
In the desert kingdom of Dorne, Jaime and his sidekick Bronn are on a
mission to save his daughter, Princess Myrcella. With Oberon Martyll slain
Jon Snow is dead! But only until Melisandre, calling on the Lord of Light,
brings him back (to the surprise of all, Melisandre included). Thus begins
the war of the Bastards, with Jon intent on wresting Winterfell back from
Ramsay and Roose Bolton. Actually make that just Ramsay ? who
eliminates his dad, his stepmother, and newborn half-brother (a true
blood heir who jeopardises Ramsay's position).
As a final conflict between the two approaches, Sansa and Theon
continue to flee Ramsay's forces. Sansa travels to the Wall where she is
reunited with her brother ("half brother," Lord Baelish might say, with a
significant pause between "half" and "brother"). Theon, meanwhile,
journeys to the Iron Islands, just in time for his hateful father to be
deposed by Theon's even more unpleasant uncle Euron. I
n King's Landing ,a post-Shame Walk Cersei isn't quite off the hook. She's
been humiliated - but must nonetheless stand trial for her crimes. The
fundamentalist High Sparrow is not for turning and guileless King
Tommen has agreed a formal alliance between church and state.
Bearing further bad news is Jamie, who reveals that Myrcella is dead. Now
all but one of Cersei's children is gone, bringing closer a witch's prediction
that her offspring would wear funeral shrouds (good luck surviving the
prophecy Tommen).
Daenerys is having a testing time, too, as prisoner of the Dothraki. As the
surviving wife of a slain Khal it is her fate to live in cloistered servitude
with the other widows. This doesn't chime with her plans to rule the
entire known world. So she scorches her opponents alive and, walking
unharmed through the flames, and becomes leader of the Dothraki (her
pledge to burn first, ask question later finding favour with the barbarian
masses).
She returns with Drogon to Meereen, where wise and wily Tyrion has
brought an uneasy peace. Meanwhile Theon and Yara Greyjoy (Gemma
Whelan) have stolen the Iron Islands, battlefleet from beneath the
exceedingly wicked nose of usurper Euron Greyjoy. Fleeing to Essos.
There, they strike an alliance with Daenerys. Boats, dragons, Dothraki ?
look out Westeros, the Targaryens are coming!
In the North, the Battle of the Bastards is joined as Ramsay clashes with
Jon (but not before Ramsay shoots dead the youngest Stark sibling,
Rickon, strictly for the chuckles).